This coming Saturday, May 16, marks a milestone in my personal history. First, it’s the birthday of my younger brother who died in a car crash when he was 20. But it just so happens that it is also the date of the very first story I wrote as an audition for this esteemed publication.
As the weather warms it’s hard not to think about produce. So in this week’s All Things we’ll explore Oregon raspberries and their family members, as well as the many veggies we grow for processing.
Lupines bring back many memories from my childhood. I loved the annual lupines we found on hikes in the canyons below Mount Diablo. In my adult years living in Texas, everyone there has heard of the Texas Bluebonnets aka Lupinus texensis. There are a number of species of lupine found in Oregon. I’ve listed 6 species and a second variety of one of the species.
Some of the most attractive and interesting of our host of parasitic plants are the various members of the broomrape, or cancer-root, family. For those who want to look them up in the wildplant manuals the botanical name of this family is Orobanchaceae.
This week we’ll meet a tiny, shiny pollinator. Meet the shining flower beetle (Family Phalacridae).
This week’s Rogue is a bit of a follow-up – or follow-on – to previous Rogues and the April 22 All Things “Birds on a Budget.”
Well, Da Beast and I have now logged more than 3,600 miles together over the past 14 plus months and with the weather improving almost daily, it may be time for a tune-up and plans for another long-distance adventure. I have yet to determine a destination, but opportunities abound. After all, I have yet to visit the city of Rogue River, but I believe it's doable.
We’ve made a lot of photo collages for All Things; this week we’re going to make an idea collage pieced together from past columns to help you have the best Mother’s Day Ever.
This is the time of year when the Peonies are blooming that I think of my sisters. Two of them dearly loved these majestic flowers. My sister in California had a beautiful bed of pale pink herbaceous peonies mingled with Bearded Iris of the same color. Blooming together they made a fabulous show. My other sister also loved the peonies especially when she and her husband retired and moved to Trail, Oregon. The home they purchased had a raised bed of Tree Peonies across much of the front of the home. In addition, in a bed under the silver birch trees were clumps of herbaceous peonies in pink and white colors.