by Laura Huenneke This geranium produced leaves with red pigment while living outdoors on a sunny porch, but switched to light green leaves when moved indoors. Back when I taught college botany, I began each semester promising that we’d learn how plants find mates, avoid enemies, and help their offspring get a good start in life. This description shocked many students who had never really thought of plants as being “alive.” But the most amazing thing that plants do is creat

By Cindy Murray On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a Steller’s jay in a spruce tree. On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me 2 twigs of mistletoe. On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me 3 Ponderosa pines. On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 4 amaryllis. On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 5 gold twig dogwoods. On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 6 pinyon pines. On the seven

Creating your own home seed bank with airtight containers and a freezer will help preserve saved vegetable seed from year-to-year (Photo by April O’Meara). Recently, a friend was visiting and looked in my freezer for beverage ice. To my friend’s surprise, he noticed that more than half of my freezer space was full of vegetable seeds leaving very little room for frozen foods. “Nate, what’s with all these frozen seeds?” he asked. “That’s my seed bank” I explained. The bank

By Sarah Edmonds A holiday wreath can hold a special place in the heart of gardeners Once Thanksgiving is over, the Christmas season will be upon us. Many will adorn their doors with wreaths, a circular symbol of welcome and good fortune. Most commercial wreaths are now made of plastic, so a wreath made of natural materials can hold a special place in the hearts of gardeners and nature lovers. Elena Kirschner is a long-time Flagstaff resident who has been making natural

By Cindy Murray An arugula plant flourishing in the Murray’s garden. Photo by Cindy Murray At the end of each growing season, I like to ponder how our vegetable gardens have performed. This past summer Mother Nature endowed us with three shiny new garden stars: mizuna, tatsoi, and arugula. Many of you may be familiar with these three cool-weather greens, but they were an “experiment-gone-right” for us. It all started with my desire to grow mesclun, which I knew pretty much n

By Gayle Gratop If you’ve ever practiced home canning, there’s a distinct sound every canner loves: the ping of a lid sealing to the jar. It’s one step toward eating peaches from your garden in January, green beans in March, and the satisfaction of filling your pantry with colorful jars from the season’s harvest. But behind that satisfying sound lies a scientific process that keeps food safe. Done wrong, spoilage can result from microorganisms such as molds, yeasts, and ev

By Cindy Murray Native vegetation will attract aphid-devouring birds like this chipping sparrow. Photo by Cindy Murray Horticulturalists are becoming more and more aware that native vegetation thriving alongside or near crops is advantageous, and there are a number of good reasons for this. These plants have been adapting to local climate, soil, moisture, and biological conditions for thousands of years, which, in essence, has led them to develop an intricate ecological balan

By Laura Huenneke Borage - Photo by Laura Huenneke Marigold - Photo by Cindy Murray Fall is a great time to pause and reflect on the most recent growing season, and review which of our plants were star performers. It’s helpful to note which plant species or varieties we’ll definitely grow again, and which didn’t perform as well as expected. A big part of gardening -- whether for flowers, vegetables, or landscaping – is choosing plants intentionally and keeping notes on how ea

By Nate O’Meara The history of Jack-O'-Lanterns is steeped in Irish history and folklore. Originally, turnips like this one from the National Museum of Ireland were carved. (photo credit: Nate O’Meara) I absolutely love going to the pumpkin patch every October to choose the perfect pumpkin with a flat face and sinister looking stem for my Jack-O'-Lantern! As thousands of Americans engage in this odd ritual every year, it begs the question: Why do we carve pumpkins at Hallow

By Cindy Murray I’ve been seeking out, identifying, and photographing wild birds for over fifteen years, but I’m not particularly adept at any one of these endeavors. That’s part of what makes “birding” fun as well as adventurous. Distinguishing one lookalike, or doppelganger, bird from another is, decidedly, an adventure. Here, I will examine some distinctive traits between several bird doppelgangers residing in Northern Arizona. I’ll start with an easy one, although at firs