Welcome to the Natural Coalescence Blog

Irises aren't just in all the colors of the rainbow, they seem to also be every scent of the cornucopia- a nose rainbow. But do their colors match their smell? Sniff for yourself and read all about them.

Testing out a new tasty little melon inspired by dino eggs

medical traits and ID of wild shelf mushroom red belted conk (Fomitopsis pinicola)

*(sweaty, even while standing still because… heat domes & such) It’s a berry Pacific Northwest kind of life in summer time here. The sun finally came out and surprisingly this year, it receded a few times for some early summer showers. Many thanks from the wildflowers and fruits, and even the conifers. Trail breakfast with wild blueberries- pure luxury! When the sun is warm enough in spring to encourage sustained blooms and successful pollination (it takes the two to tango

I will never forget being puzzled by a large tree, trying to ID it during a plant monitoring project but the leaves were all too high up and young to distinguish. So I climbed it. That’s when I had the “oh duh!” moment. Looking closer at a small branch, the large paired thorns below leaves of many pinnate leaflets were a total give away- that’s a black locust tree! Quite pretty actually, but still not a tree I especially like. Dang, not what we wanted to find. botanist,

What's the best way to get rid of weeds? Eat them, of course! And we are hitting prime dandelion season, so it's time to get digging. And roasting. And sauteing. While weeding the older dandelions out of the yard which are ready to bloom right away (continuing to spruce up the area after a tenant's prior neglect), I filled a 5gal tub with some decent sized taprooted dandies and nice tender young ones for their leaves. Naturally I needed to pluck out the pristine ones for

There are dozens of flavors for vodkas on the liquor shelves, some fruity, some floral. As delightful as a toasted marshmallow vodka can make your cocktail, I have found a new favorite. And it's one you WON'T find on any store shelf (unless you have a special boutique and botanical liquor store, lucky you!). Ribes sanguineum (red flowering currant) in full bloom on early sunny spring day I was admiring the red flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) in my yard, the very rich

Junipers are not the trees you think of associated with the drizzly Pacific Northwest. But they are old friends from home in the much drier south, much to the dismay of many pollen allergy sufferers there. The male trees can be so prolific it looks like smoke in the air. For this and other misinformed reasons, there is a trend of hating these trees, which are in fact native to this area across the south though they are spreading in an unhistorical way. To my endless annoy

Cottonwood trees (Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa, P. deltoides and B. fremontii) have a love-hate relationship with people. Some people are allergic to them, had fire damage because of them, or simply have to sweep a lot more. But then they are also thought of as sacred, useful and even a bit edible tree. Not the “cotton” though, so don’t get a head of me. [No… come back here!] They are more than just the mismatched name. These trees are quietly special; very hu

The Dino-mobile admiring shrub steppe habitat and Sierra Mountains in the distance On a trip to southern California, I was so pleasantly surprised to find myself among the silvery scent-sational low shrubs I recall from trips to the east side of the Washington Cascades, where the climate is much drier. As I observed, much of California resembles the habitats of eastern Washington, planted firmly in the rain shadow of the tall Cascades mountains which collect the mountain’s

Roast them by an open campfire, if you can find them. Or stick to chestnuts. I challenge you to roast pine nuts though. So small. old sketches of the two hazelnuts native to Washington. Not just for toasty European winter harvests, we have native hazelnuts that are also great wildlife-supporting large understory shrubs, and so tough. Above are the common North American species, showing the fruits on left and flowers on right. They may not technically be trees, but I thin

Acorns aren’t just for squirrels. Or jays. Or bears. They take some work, but we too can chow down on them too. And they are very interesting, sweetly nutty. Just don’t feed too much to cattle, horses, or dogs (bad for them, same as leaves too actually). Has anyone had a dog try to eat acorns? Chewing on their wood can give tannin toxicity, so keep an eye on the stick-chewing, but I have trouble imagining a pooch gnawing on acorns. Yet, they eat many random things. An

tiger/Columbia lily- exotic looking lily native to various open areas in PNW from lowlands to alpine habitat.

Did you know the Girl Scouts “invented” the s’more? That’s a good claim to fame I think. I thought they were just about the cookies. Which leads me to the question- why didn’t they use one of the cookies instead of a graham cracker? I mean… next level s’more a’la Girl Scouts, it’s obvious. That’s only one… ONE! way to upgrade your s’more experience. And as a big camping fan and sweet-tooth (thanks Dad), I have a “smor’gasbord” to share with you. Yeah… I went there. Ch

Ever go a little overboard on unique edible items because you wanted to know how they all compared? I feel like that's a pretty good way to "over do it" and splurge on occasion. Spoiling yourself with food is better than others. Long story short- I have entirely more honeys than I can know what to shack a stick at. I also may be experiencing a sugar high. There is something majestically and instinctively beautiful about nature's golden nectar. Why are we "all a buzz" fo