If this is the year you resolved to learn more about native plants, there's a name for you: you're a "Curious Naturalist." This definition comes from a book of that title:

 

    "Naturalists," says writer Ann Zwinger, "are born wanderers. Recognition comes through wandering, and with a keen eye to what you discover on your way. It is through this wandering that we can begin to open our eyes to worlds that were never made by us, but which form the basis for our existence."

                    (From "The Curious Naturalist,"  National Geographic Society, 1991)

 

    Another favorite book, "The Sweet Apple Gardening Book" by Celestine Sibley, encourages record keeping. She mentions the fact that Thomas Jefferson kept gardening diaries for many years, even through his years as president. You can probably still find a variety of "day books" at a local book store and this might be a good year to start using one. Take a minute before you get out of bed in the morning, or before you go to sleep at night, and record what you've seen each day in your yard, on your street, or in your neighborhood. If you've taken a hike in the nearby mountains, record what you remember seeing. What was the weather like? Any rainfall today? How much? What wildflowers are blooming? What trees are leafing out? What is the fall color of that tree in your back yard? What birds have you seen? Butterflies? Insects? Animals?  You will be fascinated to read your record next year! If you keep records every year you will see the same patterns over and over again...the same cold snaps...the same butterflies on the same day...the same birds eating the same food from your feeders...the same wildflowers opening on the same hiking trails. In a few years you will come to place greater value on the things you see as part of the circle of life in your world. 

     This web-site is a compilation of notes and photos from many years of wandering and recording. I hope you enjoy it.

 

                                                                                        Janelle Whalen

January, 2017