Botany, Travel, and Art, Oh My!
What is foxglove? Why is it important? What does it do or not do? And why is it called “foxglove” of all things?
It should be a surprise to none that humans have a tendency to concoct often fantastical narratives about their surroundings, some of which have connections to the foxglove, as we’ll explore in a few moments.
A Seed is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston, Illustrated by Silvia Long and geared toward children aged 5-8, or Kindergarten reading level. This book is designated as children’s non-fiction. This book goes through different types of seeds and gives examples of each. Unlike some children’s books the illustrations are photo-realistic botanical watercolor paintings.
We Are the Gardeners by Joanna Gaines and kids, Illustrated by Julianna Swaney is written for children aged 4-8, or first to second grade reading level and designated as children’s non-fiction.
The story details the beginnings of a garden from the perspective of the author’s children, starting with a humble fern and growing from there.
If you are at all like me, you’ve wondered a time or two why bats, pumpkins, and the like have become associated with Halloween, Samhain, All Hallows Eve, or otherwise associated with the season. This is not going to be an exhaustive description, so feel free to share further lore in the comments, but it will cover a wide range, but today we will be discussing our beflighted mammal friends.
The contents itself, while somewhat difficult to navigate at first, is informative and useful, each herb entry containing information for that plant’s common, scientific, and folk names, associated gender (masculine/feminine), ruling planet, element, and sometimes deity, and associated magical uses, rituals, and powers.
“In a bid to “save the economy,” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stopped enforcing environmental laws. According to these newly relaxed regulations, businesses failing to meet previous standards of public health and environmental security will not be fined, penalized, or subject to any civil penalties, wrote Knickmeyer, of the Associated Press. Many of these businesses are from the oil and gas industry and are often routinely cited for dumping hazardous materials already.”
…In our planet’s current health climate, it is important to keep a level head and understand what we’re dealing with. While I am completely in favor of people taking care of their own bodies and doing what they can to maintain their health through natural botanical and supportive means (previous medical ethnobotany posts), right now is not a time to be taking health into your own hands. …
Welcome to the experiments in voice editing and mic use that has been my life for the past week and a half.
In today's episode, we dive into the weird and wonderful world of the morning glory, specifically the Mexican morning glory (tlitliltzin, Ipomoea. tricolor), a vibrant blue and featured in the episode artwork, and the Beach moonflower (Ipomoea. violacea). Join me in discovering the... altered states and effects of this plant.
Hey, all! I wanted to come on here and let you know that I’ll be posting new articles shortly, but life, health, and new projects have kept me away. I’ve been sick off and on for the past two weeks, after a run-in with unlabeled butter in a bag of popcorn. Been dealing with bad head-cold symptoms ever since. I’m feeling loads better now, though so that’s a positive. Now my system just has to re-calibrate… again.
In other news, I’ve launched a new podcast. By the time this is posted, it should be linked in the upper right corner of the screen, but I’ll put a link below anyway. It’s entitled “Botany After Dark” and discusses the dark mysteries of the plant world. Here, we explore the darker and more potentially polarizing, side of botany.
New episodes will be uploaded every Wednesday or Thursday. Enjoy.
Kate
https://botanyafterdark.pinecast.co
Hail and well met, everyone!
So, I’ve been posting here and uploading largely separate content on my YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/Ethnobotanicam). I’m experimenting with still posting on the various platforms I currently use (Youtube, Instagram and the like), but cross-posting here as a method of aggregating all my botanical content into one place. Let me know what you think. Have a fab day, everyone, and happy LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
Kate
