As a naturalist and lover of natural landscapes, I am always seeking ways of making my home landscape look its best while using native plantings. It all started 15 years ago when building my house. I was determined to stick with a non-traditional landscape around the foundation of the structure....

I have a confession to make. I am a data nerd. I love a good spreadsheet, seeing all those numbers (data points) neatly arrayed. But I am also an artist. And at first glance those two would seem to be incompatible. But they are not. Data can be the inspiration for art. Don’t think so? Hear me out...

 “I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house." Nathaniel Hawthorne   When was the last time you noticed the light? I mean really noticed it. Not the, “oh it’s getting dark, I should turn on a light” notice, think deeper than that...

Sitting in the woods, I hear the sound of fall through the voice of the trees. Trees talk in swooshes, crackles and this time of year in a rustle. One only has to hear this distinctive sound to know the seasons have truly changed. As Walt Whitman wrote, “Go and sit in a grove or woods, with one or...

Sitting in Miss Hoover’s seventh grade science class I often thought how magical science seemed. Secrets of how things worked and behaved or how adding one chemical to another changed the color, all of it seemed almost unbelievable. In fact, it was more than just a magic trick. All of it was the...

 “Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience.” Ralph Waldo Emerson This quote brings me comfort during this unsettling time and it is a gentle reminder that nothing is permanent and that this too shall pass. Just take a look at nature. She has been asleep, resting and waiting these past...

By Rose Moore, Master Naturalist It all started a month ago when I was working on a painting of Giant Sequoias after a trip I took recently to Yosemite National Park. In gathering information about these trees I discovered scientists believe the oldest specimen alive today is about 3,500 years old...

Are you sketching in your journal? If not, maybe you should be. I know, you are thinking to yourself, “But I can’t draw.” Or “I can’t even do a stick figure.” Am I right? Whether you are good or bad at sketching is beside the point. The important part is the act of drawing, itself. Drawing is good...

By Rose Moore Master Naturalist – January 2020 One of the greatest pleasures I have in my daily outdoor adventures is discovering new things. Just because it is winter, there is no absence of wonders to be found. Recently, on a mild, snow - less morning, I decided to veer off my usual trails...