The Spathe (In Devotion to Skunk Cabbage)
by Kerissa Fuccillo Battle Rising up out of the frozen wetland, the blood-red curled tip of the spathe cups the spadix. This spiky knob...
Red Maple #1
The pond phenology path is littered with pine needles thrown by the Winterspring wind. I think of my daughter's small hands gripping the...
Sugar Maples and Snow Fleas
Before the first Red maples offer their sweetness to the bees, the Sugar maples offer sweetness to those of us carrying our spiles and...
CoCo Sheng's Personal Experience with Phenology
"This story and our phenology project was about bearing witness, making a promise to future generations, and committing to something...
Red Maple: The Unheralded Harbinger of Spring
For many plant lovers, the ephemerals are the thing. Spring ephemeral seekers wait patiently, searching delicately on spongey ground,...
In Praise of Late-Season Asters
“I end not far from my going forth By picking the faded blue Of the last remaining aster flower To carry again to you.” --Robert Frost: A...
Persistence of Milkweed
Philip Jamison, American, b. 1925, Milkweed, ca. 1950-1960, Watercolor on Paper Persistence of Milkweed Have you ever noticed that...
Luna Moth
This beautiful luna moth caterpillar, in her fifth and final instar stage, was crossing the road yesterday searching for a safe place to...
Spring Musings
Spring is in full tilt. Many of us are wandering around our woods, meadows and yards making small exclamations of delight as we see the...
NYPP Species Highlight: The Lure of the Witch-hazel
As an ecologist, I’m not supposed to be partial to any one particular plant; as a scientist it is unseemly to hail a plant’s magic or...
