Welcome to the Natural Coalescence Blog

Special plants make unique blue pollen and pollen can come in a range of colors too.

There are many cool trees all over the world and possibly more than our 'fair share' in the Pacific northwest due to the variety of habitats and historic geological disturbances of glaciation that isolated tree group progenitors and pushed others into severe habitats. I try not to be biased but also find a lot of incidents of having to pause to admire or fully caress some of our trees. So... there are cool ones. And high on the list of favorites is the western red-cedar, w

Blue flowers are the RAREST color. I’ve noticed this for a long time. And it makes sense. But it is also confusing and weird and beautiful. blue Himalayan poppy (Meconopsis betonicifolia) TLDR: Flowers are blue through difficulty for the plants, but because it draws more animal pollinators and they show up more in areas with steeper competition for pollination. And we are a bit obsessed with them and their color, despite seeing less than bees can. Blue, not plum or lavend

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

Plant obsessions go through trends, just like the huge tulip obsession and flash trade market that was huge for a short time, then crashed very suddenly. Can you imagine coming to financial ruin because you invested in the wrong seller of tulip bulbs? I am seriously considering creating a big planter just for irises a wide variety of irises, just investing way too much in prettiness because it will please me. So… bad idea? I’ll try to stay strong. Tulips, roses, African vi

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

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

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