The tutor shares a backyard find that is somewhat coincidental. For an unknown reason, I decided to listen to Elton John’s song “Elderberry Wine” on YouTube the other day. It’s a great song; I’ve just never felt moved to look …
The tutor shares another field find. Two posts ago I discussed my discovery of a Pacific crab apple. A couple of other discoveries happened in parallel. While thumbing through the guide to find the match for the tree, I sat …
Plant identification from a field guide: St. John’s-Wort Read more »
The tutor shares yet another field find. At the edge of a field across from my house stands a tree about 3m (10 ft) tall. I run that field; I’ve passed that tree hundreds of times, never knowing what kind …
Tree identification from a field guide: the Pacific crab apple Read more »
The tutor discusses a definition that surprised him. Back in the Maritimes, where I grew up, deciduous meant that the tree lost its leaves in the fall. The reason seemed simple enough: the lush leaves, so effective at catching sunlight …
The tutor shares a couple of observations from a day’s visit. With my family I visited Lazo Wildlife Park (see the CVRD’s description here) for a little sightseeing. It’s not in our backyard, and the description promised some scenery not …
The tutor shares a recent discovery from his neighborhood. About a mile away, a school has a secluded parking lot offset from its main one. On walks, I’ve taken the kids around that school, to that secluded corner, many times …
The tutor, continuing with his identification of familiar plants, shares another find. One guide compares the creamy clouds of flowers on oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor) to lilacs, but they’re less structured than some lilac flowers; I’d say their stems are softer …
Plant identification from field guides: oceanspray Read more »
The tutor continues a survey of the wild plants in the yard. I’ve been looking for other plants to identify. There is one in some gravel; I’d say I’ve pulled it up many times. Yet, it persists. This time I’ve …
Plant identification from field guides: the common sow thistle Read more »
The tutor shares a discovery from his yard. We have a lawn, but also a bark-chip area in front of our house. During a season, I let parts of it grow more or less freely: some very colourful blooms populate …
Plant identification from a field guide: fireweed Read more »
The tutor shares another find from his exploration of trees. Recently reading about the pacific yew, I came upon the term dioecious. Dioecious means that the male and female plants are separate; ie, that this tree might just have male …