Cacti make up one of the most diverse and rapidly-evolving plant families in the world, native exclusively to the Americas. First appearing about 35 million years ago (fairly recent for such a large group of plants), the first cacti were thorny tropical shrubs with woody stems and lush leaves. They’re hardly recognizable as cacti, but …
Category Archives: plant collecting
Collecting wild plants for gardens: how to forage responsibly
If you like gardening and native plants like I do, you know there are some mixed messages about collecting wild plants. We hear growing native plants is good, but only if they come from reputable commercial nurseries. We’ve learned the harms of picking a wildflower, but give little thought to building with wood, meaning somebody …
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Bringing tropical cuttings and seeds to life
If you love plants, coming home from a trip with a bunch of seeds and plants in tow is like adding an extra day to your vacation. Like an 8 year old back from trick-or-treating with a cache of Halloween candy, you spread your bounty out over the kitchen table and sort through what you …
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Botanical tourism: bringing plants from Hawaii to the mainland
When I was a kid, my dad sometimes brought me bits of plant life from his work trips around the country. I was more interested in those kinds of souvenirs than anything from an airport gift shop. They were nothing ecologically-sensitive or fancy. Just nuts or seed pods from trees in a public park, or …
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