Posts by Ron Sullivan
Heaven Scent
I went to Death Valley determined to sniff anything that would hold still long enough
Essential Reads
State surveillance; corporate chow; pest-control primer.
The Backyard Lowell Thomas
Slapstick, sweat, sustenance, and science: we garden for food and for beauty—and beauty is more than just decor.
Mapping the Future
If you’re going to Palo Alto’s Arastradero Preserve, take I-280 to the Page Mill Road exit and plan to get lost a couple of times.
First the Bees, then the Birds
Botanists have an advantage over zoologists—their subjects sit still, more or less. They can’t hide, and they can’t run either.
The Name of the Game
IN AUGUST, BOTANISTS MET IN Uppsala to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Carolus Linnaeus’ publication of his first blockbuster, Species Plantarum.
The Price of Paradise
Napa Valley is small and narrow, a geological wrinkle that both dictates and follows the course of a little river. Route 29 follows the river too, and traveling on it makes the valley seem even narrower.
California’a Own
It’s a hot day in the wet section of Anderson Marsh Park in Lake County. After crossing the parched meadow, we’re taking a moment to cool off on the shady boardwalk and let the birds — jays, a black phoebe, rowdy robins, swallows above the trees — entertain us.
Charming Adventurers
After all these years, my carpenteria is blooming! Let’s hear it for delayed gratification.
Carpenteria californica is also called “bush anemone.”
A Bushel of Hedgeballs
We were gliding along a dirt road east of Fairfield, trolling for mountain plovers, when I spotted a number of unlikely objects on the grassy shoulder.
O Pioneers!
A raw volcano in Hawai‘i will rearrange one’s ideas about Nature, deep and fast.
Evolution Two-step
In fond hope of luring pipevine swallowtails to my yard, I planted a native Aristolochia, a Dutchman’s pipe, a few years ago.
Muck Lovers
We’ve been fighting with the lousy drainage in my backyard for years and not getting results in proportion to the energy we’ve spent — certainly nothing lasting.
