Welcome to the Natural Coalescence Blog

There’s a disturbance in the woods. The snow has melted in most places, the skiers have slipped away with the entrance of spring. And as you come to a bend in the trail, there's a whole crowd of brilliantly radiating guys, just chilling there, letting it all hang out. Meet, the avalanche bros, the glacier guys, the yellow alpine lilies. Erythronium grandiflorum, avalanche lilies Try not to stare. They always have their junk out in the breeze, suspended on long filaments wi

You know how it is. When you're a pretty little thing with a brown complexion, folks tend to nickname ya "Chocolate". Not that I have anything against actual chocolate. Cocoa. Theobroma cocoa is her full name actually and boy what a fascinating lady. But we ain't even in the same order, let alone the same family. Just got a color in common. Needless to say, I also don't have Cocoa's bittersweet flavors. But we do have some bulbous parts (pardon my French) and we are e

Hey ya doll. Don’t you mind me, or should I say “us”. We certainly don’t mind this snow that can’t resist showing up again after a long hiatus. Every winter we get this last flash of winter like it’s resisting letting go, right? We kind of like that last cry of winter after a premature tease of spring to get our bulbs going. crocus in snow, by Vasile Cotovanu It may be frosty up top, but we know when it’s time to poke our heads out and find some action on the surface. croc

photo by Katy Cain, from Shenandoah National Park At the edge of a forest, near a centennial remnant of crumbling cedar fence, there’s a gnarled struggling tree of thick knotted branch tangles and a few large dead limbs. She is a marvelous Malus, apple. Her wood is gray and scarred- wrinkles showing the touch of time. And dotted among the fading branches, dusted in new snow, are pink shimmering gems- the round treasures that still coalesce their sugars each fall before they

Santa Claus may have all the ho’s, but it is the stoic oaks that draw the sapiosexuals to wrap an arm about their branch and light up their festive log. post oak draped in Spanish "moss", like a wizards beard Grand and stately or ambling and scruffy, oaks have a little something for anyone. And this cold and dreary time of year, we have a special something for your hearth too. The finest log to build upon a fiery symbol of rebellion against the longest nights. And let’s not

A look back on the dark story of a prairie parasite for the stormy days. The Vampire Orobanche uniflora below the ruins of a bracken fern It was a dark and stormy prairie. The oscillating early spring was in turmoil with much emergence, with newly burning sun streaks and the biting chill and rain. And there is something underground. It lurks silently, unseen, unheard, but always there, if you know where to look and if you dare. From coast to coast of states united, and southe

Viola can fertilize themselves underground and were used as a symbol of the underground lesbian culture in the yearly 20th century, thanks to Ancient Greece poetry. We know how humans are, tending to think a little human-centered, like every pretty flower is meant for their sight and enjoyment. But us quiet violets can attest otherwise, not that we’d ever loudly point it out. Too modest for that. Sometimes, we aren't even for the bees to cast a gaze on. But we are flowers

Lupinus bicolor: tough little cuties perfectly at home next to a hot compacted gravel road. We’re tiny cuties you can find along quite a few country roads all across the west coast. Like many lupines, we can take some tough growing conditions. But you wish they all could be bicolor girls, don’t I know it. ;) Once they get a look at our teeny blue-bottom buds and white caps, it’s love- the kind you have to break hard for and pull over to the shoulder to catch a better look

Relationship Status: Single-year. Non-native nitrogen-fixing legume My name is Trifolium subterraneum; you can call me TRISUB for short. I grew up in Europe & northern Africa, looked for love in all the wrong places, and so these days I’ve adapted to mainly self-fertilization. You’ve probably met a few of my exes (some bolder clovers), but I’m a little more subtle and shy with only a few flowers on my head. But I with my low early-season growth, self-sowing fruits creatin