Transhumance: Trails of Survival
France’s desalpe, Austria’s almabtrieb, and Germany’s viehscheid overflow with richness. They’re all knockout celebrations with mirrored crowns, wildflowers, clarinets, and beer halls thronged with diners and singers. This fall we saw a less flamboyant but by means no less impressive seasonal livestock drive in Western
When the Cows Come Home
A human-bovine-floral custom of the Alps decorates the herds for their descent from high pastures and celebrates the herders who work with them.
From our vantage point in the land of parched, flat and “virtual,” heaven looks like this:
It’s the event of the season
Bengali Weddings ~ What’s the Rush?
Making marriages to last (or so they hope), Bengali Hindus bring carved marsh-reeds, grass bracelets, marigolds and tuberoses to the altar.
Indian couples typically don’t hurry into marriage. Even circa 2008, many parents still choose their children’s life partners, often picking out spouses years in
Rube Goldberg’s Flowers
The best route isn’t always direct, especially when it comes to pollination.
Thank you to Ernesto Sandoval , curator at UC Davis’s Greenhouses, for sending this news of bird/flower symbiosis.
Babiana ringens , a plant known in its native South Africa as “rat tail,” must
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The improbable hero of Orczy’s adventure novel took cover behind a common roadside weed.
Which side of the French Revolution (the 1789 one, we mean) are you on?
In the anti-monarchical U.S., we tend to side with our fellow Revolutionaries, acknowledging that sometimes a few
Nicodemus: Evening Primrose
Evening primroses can open the Bible, kick off a party or alleviate PMS. ‘How can this be?’
Evening primrose, Oenothera , comes into bloom in early summer across much of the central U.S. and flowers on for weeks. As its name gives away, it’s one
