by Megan Presland I have only ever loved one tree in my life: the big, beautiful, gnarled apple tree that used to stand in my parents' backyard. While we never actually ate the fruit of this tree, it provided a spot for our childhood imaginations to flourish. When I was younger, my father worked in forestry for the county and my brothers and I quickly grew an affinity for tree climbing. It was on the apple tree that I first learned to climb, using its thick, sturdy branches

by Lily Glaeser When I worked for the City Of Portland, Urban Forestry, I was part of a team, including many, many volunteers, identifying all the public right-of-way trees in the city. It was a fantastic summer, walking every street, identifying, measuring, and taking pictures of trees. In the fall, my sister, Rose, visited me. My co-workers, Rose, and I piled into a van to go out to eat. One of my co-workers was driving and constantly getting backseat directions, but we sti

by Lesley Evans Ogden This week we bring you another story from our Plant Love Stories Live event held recently at North American Congress on Conservation Biology in Toronto. This week's story is by Lesley Evans Ogden. You can hear her story using the video link below A transcript of her story is available below: Growing up in rural Ontario just north of Kingston, my family lived next door to a farm. The farmers were a friendly and generous family and my brother and I were g

by Megan Cate Dandelions are technically an invasive weed. Many think they are lawn nuisances and dedicate the spring and summer to killing them in any way possible. While dandelions may die and stay out of your lawn, there is usually one straggler whose bud peeks its way up in a driveway crack or other remote location. When my sister, Allison, and I were young (under 4 years old), we spent hours outside our rural home in Capac, Michigan. One of our fondest memories is of our

by Bonnie McGill I’m telling you he was throwing sticks at me and wouldn’t stop. So I did what any little sister would do when verbal communication fails to bring about a change in your older brother’s behavior: give them a little shove. That’ll get their attention. And it sure did. It was August 1995, think President (Bill) Clinton, Toy Story and Garth Brooks. I was 11 and my brother, Tim, was 13. (The photos at left were taken in ~1987 and 2016.) We had been climbing trees