How to find black raspberries in the wild or establish them in your yard
By Russ Cohen If you've done any foraging at all, it is likely you've been berry picking. For many, it is among the most anticipated and enjoyable activities of summer.…
Native Plant Sanctuary Faces Its Own Extinction
By A Nearly Native Nursery If you’ve ever seen a plant marked “endangered” in a botanical garden, did you ever wonder how it got there? When a curator wants to…
Native plants, fire and the landscape around your home
By Kathy Connolly A clear message has taken hold in fire safety: keep plants five feet away from your home. Fire protection experts and insurance companies, far and wide, recommend…
Urban Tree Replacement: What the Data Says About Survival, Species, and Accountability
By Honor Scorzelli At 527 acres, Franklin Park dwarfs the Boston Common seven times over. Frederick Law Olmsted never intended it to be a place for strolling past flower beds.…
To Recover Endangered Species, Invest in Plants
By Jonathan Wood, Emily E.D. Coffey, and Leah Oliver A secret to recovering high numbers of endangered and threatened species lies with the most overlooked among them: plants. Although endangered…
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Celebrates 100 years!
By Melissa Patrino, Director of DevelopmentAll photos courtesy of Santa Barbara Botanic Garden In April 1926, following the first Board of Trustees meeting at Blaksley Botanic Garden (renamed Santa Barbara…
Book Review: Feed Us With Trees by Elspeth Hay
Review by Robert Graham In September 2025, I was sitting in a quiet campground in Crawford Notch, New Hampshire reading. As the acorns of red oak (Quercus rubra) bounced off…
Solidago for the Mid-Atlantic Region
Written by Sam HoadleyPhotos courtesy of Mt. Cuba Center According to a three-year trial conducted by Mt. Cuba Center, Solidago, commonly known as goldenrod, are adaptable native plants that provide beauty…
Spirituality and Landscape Design
By Thomas Christopher When I spoke up at the recent New Directions in the American Landscape Annual (NDAL) Symposium, I spooked a number of my fellow participants. Toward the end…
The Guilt of a Nurseryman
By Kevin Zuidervliet I am not sure if we should start the story about water and its relationship with Octoraro Native Plant Nursery with guilt, but it’s the first thing…