You know you’re a true Californian when you learn to prefer February flowers to snow shovels.
Early Wildflower Blooms Help Define our California “Winter”
January 1, 2011 •
Sue Rosenthal
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Book Review: A State of Change: Forgotten Landscapes of California
October 1, 2010 •
This book is an unmatched picture–in paintings and words– of what California might have been like before the arrival of Europeans.
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Book Review: California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names
October 1, 2010 •
by Erwin G. Gudde (revised by William Bright), UC Press, 2010, 496 pages, $27.50 What’s in a name? Sometimes rich history and intriguing stories. The 40th-anniversary edition of California Place Names animates many local geographic names we take for granted. … Read more
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The Presidio’s Miracle Manzanita
April 1, 2010 •
A construction site along one of San Francisco’s busiest thoroughfares hardly seems like a good spot to find one of our region’s rarest plants. But that’s just where a passing biologist saw a manzanita thought extinct for decades. And now a whole lot of people are trying to make sure this lone survivor isn’t the last Franciscan manzanita.
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Blowin’ in the Wind
April 1, 2010 •
Next time you sneeze, think of it as an homage to pollen, the key to the reproduction of plants all over the world. Look a little closer, and this stuff turns out to be well worth a few sneezes now and then!
Plastic Pollution in the Ocean and What You Can Do About It
July 1, 2009 •
An extensive resource list and tips on how to minimize your plastic use and how to keep what plastic you do use from ending up in the ocean.
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Turning Back the Plastic Tide
July 1, 2009 •
An innovative program uses albatrosses as “winged ambassadors” to help middle school students learn about the distant consequences of plastics that end up in our ocean.
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Mulch Madness
April 1, 2009 •
Google “mulch” and you’ll find university websites from Alaska to Florida touting mulch as one of the most environmentally friendly and effective tools for improving a backyard garden. But that mulch keeps native bees from digging their nests…
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Dinosaur Plants
April 1, 2009 •
While living dinosaurs are nowhere to be found in California these days, you can see recognizable descendants of plants that lived with them–right here in the modern Bay Area.
Bees, Butterflies, and Other Insect Pollinators
March 26, 2009 •
Insects have fascinating lives and behaviors most of us never notice. But if you spend even 15 minutes watching bees or butterflies, you’re sure to be drawn into their worlds and want to know more about them. Here are some … Read more