Pines have played a significant role throughout our history for their wide range of utilities: pine pitch sealed vessels to make them waterproof, pine needle baskets were woven, pine sap was mixed with honey and chewed like gum, and even soap could be fashioned from pine tar.
Calendula is our pick for Enneagram Type 7, called the Optimist. This personality type is sunny, bright, positive and a best-case-scenario type of person. The yellow and orange, sunny-petaled calendula is a perfect match for the qualities of The Optimist. Type 7s like to be positive and optimistic above else, and criticize others for being “negative.”
As a gardener, aspiring ecologist, and plant lover I can't get enough information on native ecology to satisfy my curiosity. I'm grateful to have a number of local educational resources that work to provide and abundance of information to all age groups. If you're in the area, I hope you'll take advantage of the resources available at Bowman's Tower Wildflower Preserve in Buckscounty Pennsylvania.
The practice of building habitat for wildlife doesn’t have to be taxing on the gardener, much of it is aiding natural processes, which mean less work and more appreciation for seasonal plant cycles.
Seeds lie in wait in the dry dirt of the chaparral ecosystem, sometimes for more than 100 years. They hold within a secret, a key to rebirth adapted to the nature of their surroundings: many of these seeds germinate in fire. Phoenix-like, the foliage and plants of the chaparral has evolved beautifully to the regions where it grows. These Mediterranean-like climates allow for evergreen scrub brush landscapes dominated by species of stalwart plants and herbs that stabilize otherwise barren hillsides and provide shelter for the fauna in their midst. I recently had the chance to witness firsthand how this remarkable ecosystem regrows with the energy the wildfires bring, forces we tend to see as only frightening and destructive. It wasn’t...
