The constant gardener lives in an uneasy relationship with nature. Sometimes they are friends, sometimes allies, and at other times enemies.There is nothing natural about a traditional English cottage garden, however beautiful it may look. Nor is there anything natural
It all started from Wordsworth when I realized there are more reasons to connect with nature than enjoying the scenery and wildlife.His poems protested the industrialization of wild and beautiful landscapes, but how much greater would his fury be today,
I have a door at home that hides a secret—not because it closes off a room; it usually stands open, its back pressed against a wall.One day I shared this secret with a friend who was mourning the loss of
There is no more tender moment in The Odyssey than when old Argos greets his master, who returns home in secret after two decades away at the Trojan War. You don’t have to be a dog lover to be moved
Curiosity can mean many things. It gives the brain an appetite for discovery. It helps wild animals survive. It sometimes gets them into trouble—after all, what happened to the proverbial cat? And in other creatures, including humans, curiosity can occasionally
The services of bees have been valued for millennia. In the early Middle Ages, they provided honey for sweetening, mead and beer, wax for candles, sealants, and much more. The only benefits never mentioned then are pollination services, the prime
The top boxes in my hives felt heavy during an inspection, so it was time to harvest honey on Saturday. I only have two hives, more as a hobby than for honey that’s mostly used as gifts. Imported honey brings
We know it’s April in Virginia when our car changes color under a coating of yellow pine pollen. The finger-writing on the car’s hood on the second day of pollen fall soon disappears under new layers, like the first footprints
Why do we age—and why has rejuvenation always proved so elusive? This book expresses a clear-eyed, deeply informed exploration of the biology of aging and reproduction. Drawing on evolutionary biology, endocrinology, reproductive science, and medicine, it examines humanity’s perennial attempts
Last month I posted about migrating flocks of grackles and blackbirds. Hundreds of them landed, turning the lawn from green to black as they hungrily searched for seeds between grass blades. When they flew away, a solitary blackbird still lay