My brother’s family sent me this plant for my birthday yesterday. They know me well. “Another plant for your growing jungle!” the card said. (Kathy, my sister-in-law, invented the fippokat as a child and lent it to me for Semiosis and hasn’t complained about the ways I’ve used and abused them.) The card from the … Continue reading A splashy pink birthday gift

The Forgetting Flower by Karen Hugg My rating: 5 of 5 stars Full disclosure: The author approached me to see if I wanted to write a blurb for her book, a literary thriller, and if so, she’d send me a copy. The book was about plants, and plants are my thing. I took a look … Continue reading My Goodreads review of “The Forgetting Flower”

Finalists for this year’s John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction novel have been selected, and Semiosis is on the list! I am deeply honored. The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel , or Campbell Memorial Award, is an annual award presented by the Center for the Study of … Continue reading “Semiosis” is a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award

Here’s some of the latest news about flowers: Mouse plants If you’re pollinated by fungus gnats, it’s good to pretend to be a mushroom. (The name comes from the flower’s mouse-like “tail.”) Spring is coming earlier New England’s woodland wildflowers are not keeping up with the change. Ants on peonies Peony flowers provide food for … Continue reading Flowers in the news

The Best of Poul Anderson by Poul Anderson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Poul Anderson (1926–2001) won multiple awards and much acclaim during his career. His story “Eutopia” in the Dangerous Vision anthology (1967) remains one of my favorites for the way the plot hinges on the final word. This is typical of Anderson. … Continue reading My Goodreads review – good stories with one big problem Anderson never saw

This may seem like a question for poets, but botanists know why roses have thorns. First of all, to set the record straight, roses do not have thorns. They have prickles. Thorns are modified leaf stems or parts of leaves, while prickles grow from the epidermis or cortex. Rose prickles serve to keep away predators. … Continue reading Why do roses have thorns?

This is my new favorite plant, a Rhipsalis creuscula or coral cactus. I got it a month ago from my brother, who sent me some cuttings from his plant by mail. His plant came from cuttings my mother gave him almost thirty years ago from her plant. She died in 1994. So this is my … Continue reading My new favorite plant – from Mom