Is It Spring Yet? – The New York Times
I’m micro-dosing my way through this wintry moment in American history, with the simple act of looking closely for each tiny hint of spring-to-be as my drug of choice. The…
How Fungi Move Among Us
Mycorrhizal fungi are the supply chains of the soil. With filaments thinner than hair, they shuttle vital nutrients to plants and tree roots. In return, the fungi receive carbon to…
Soil Blocking: Good for Your Plants and the Environment
Have you ever unearthed the congested tangle confined within each cell of a seedling tray at transplant time, when tiny roots had already hit their compartment’s wall and started circling…
Should Tulips Replace Roses for Valentine’s Day? Florists Think So.
For the past five years, Molly Culver, owner of Molly Oliver Flowers in Brooklyn, has mounted a quiet battle against the goliath of Valentine’s Day flowers: the rose. Classically red,…
How Can My Valentine’s Flowers Show the Earth Love, Too?
It may be more heartbreaking than hearing your Thanksgiving dinner is wasteful or your Halloween chocolate is problematic. But yes: Those Valentine’s roses do have an environmental cost. The majority…
What Lurks in This Flower’s Bizarrely Large Y Chromosome?
The vast majority of plants are hermaphrodites, with both male and female reproductive parts. Oaks, some orchids, the potted spider plant in your office — they’re all capable of reproducing…
Typhoon Yagi Scrambles Vietnam’s Lunar New Year Tradition
In Hanoi and other Vietnamese cities at this time of year, potted kumquat trees fastened to motorbike seats dodge and weave through traffic in a haze of orange. Families buy…
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Hummingbird
Flower mites spend their lives slurping nectar and nibbling pollen in flowers throughout the tropics. To travel from one blossom to another, these tiny, eight-legged creatures hitch rides on the…