Lupins: Legumes Of Catskills Gardens!

In gardens throughout the Catskills, the lupins are blooming. Their showy spikes of flowers stand up above the foliage, and create bright spots of color at this time of year. There about 200 species of Lupin, found mostly in the Americas with a few other species clustered around the Mediterranean…

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Champion Campions of the Catskills! Pretty in Pinks Part II!

Last week I posted a blog about some garden flowers in the Dianthus family, known to botanists as Caryophyllaceae.  I discussed several garden flowers in the genus Dianthus, a group of species within the Dianthus family. This week, I will discuss some other Dianthus family plants closely related to the…

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Pretty in Pinks! Catskills Dianthus!

Starting to bloom right now in Catskills gardens are the flowers known commonly as Pinks, but also known by their scientific name Dianthus. They are part of a large group of flowers, annuals, biennials and perennials, in the family Caryophyllaceae, with many garden and wild representatives of interest to the…

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Bugs Inside Bugs – Andes Roundtable Talk!

Hello Friends of Root!   This week, I will be busy preparing for my talk at the Andes Roundtable on Wednesday, June 8th. It is an overview of the natural history and biology of parasitism as exemplified by local parasitic wasps, and the role that these wasps play in the…

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