Hollis

LATEST ARTICLES ( 441 )

• Memories of Summer Grasslands

  

  The “flowers” in this bedraggled bouquet are from a plant that was blooming in my yard just a few weeks ago ... in early November at 7000 feet elevation in... Read more

  Posted on 22 November 2015 OUTDOORS

• “For Each Man Sees Himself in the Grand Canyon”

  

  There’s one more thing you need for your trip into the Canyon—a book of poetry. Yes—a book of poetry!—even as you try to reduce your belongings to the bare... Read more

  Posted on 13 November 2015 OUTDOORS

• Willow Expedition

  

  “We’re gonna do what?!”Snow fell though the night. It was obvious, even inside the house. City sounds were muffled, and a dim light shone through the... Read more

  Posted on 07 November 2015 OUTDOORS

• Stop! There’s a Tree in the Rock in the Road

  

  But is it wild or urban?The plant featured in this Street Plants post was a tough call. Is it urban or is it wild? It must be wild as it grows on the crest of... Read more

  Posted on 17 October 2015 OUTDOORS

• Tree on Drugs

  

  Though it's early October, this American pussy willow is not thinking fall.As you may know, I'm following a tree. I’m not alone—fifty-plus other people around... Read more

  Posted on 07 October 2015 OUTDOORS

• Living Botanical History

  

  Mrs. Aven Nelson holds a “stout carpenter’s chisel” used to dig up plants in Yellowstone Park. Student assistant Leslie Goodding looks on. Between them are... Read more

  Posted on 03 October 2015 OUTDOORS

• Botanists in Paradise—a Letter to the Earth

  

  Last week I received a long hand-written letter. After reading the first few paragraphs, I found myself in a state of shock! It had been written by Aven... Read more

  Posted on 28 September 2015 OUTDOORS

• Fall Colors: Pink & Green

  

  Salsola kali, one of many synonyms (experts are still debating).They’re among the most notorious characters of the western US … have been since the 1870s when... Read more

  Posted on 25 September 2015 OUTDOORS

• Drama at the Canyon Mouth

  

  Clarks Fork Canyon and southeast Beartooth front; photo courtesy Tim Schoessler.In northwest Wyoming, roughly 30 miles northwest of Powell, the Clarks Fork of... Read more

  Posted on 16 September 2015 OUTDOORS

• Plants on Rock

  

  Not much happening with my willow (peeking out from behind rock)—just kicking back and hanging out with juniper pals in the ‘hood. Read more

  Posted on 08 September 2015 OUTDOORS

• Mr. Nuttall and His Violet, His Lily, His Larkspur, His Sunflower, His Evening...

  

  Thomas Nuttall, the great 19th-century naturalist.“The Pilgrim’s crew christened Mr. Nuttall “Old Curious” from his zeal for curiosities, and some of them said... Read more

  Posted on 28 August 2015 OUTDOORS

• Time Travel Gets Complicated

  

  Beautiful and complex geology.But first ... the simple part.To travel back in time through the Owl Creek Mountains south of Thermopolis, start at the “Wedding o... Read more

  Posted on 14 August 2015 OUTDOORS

• “The Willow Never Quits”

  

  Crown of American pussy willow next to limestone cliff.On Wednesday I walked to the rim of the small canyon just east of town to check the willow I'm following. Read more

  Posted on 07 August 2015 OUTDOORS

• Welcome, Bees! ... Please Make Yourselves at Home

  

  I’m thrilled that my lilacs have scalloped leaves. It means leafcutter bees are building nurseries, where their eggs will overwinter (and the bees don’t hurt th... Read more

  Posted on 04 August 2015 OUTDOORS

• I, Naturalist .... You, Naturalist?

  

  They say natural history is dying. Support is in steep decline. There are fewer academic programs, staff are cut, museums and herbaria are shuttered. What a hug... Read more

  Posted on 31 July 2015 OUTDOORS

• Stuck – in a Land of Flat Plants

  

  Plant specimens waiting to be shelved for posterity.Lucy Corrander says it’s time for the next stuck-foot gathering already! I was caught by surprise, but I kne... Read more

  Posted on 23 July 2015 OUTDOORS

• Beautiful Stones & Battered Relics

  

  "what rolled pebbles are to the Geologist—Battered relics of past ages often containing within them indelible records capable of intelligible interpretation"... Read more

  Posted on 16 July 2015 OUTDOORS

• Water! (tree Following in July)

  

  We’re having a wet summer here in normally-sunny Wyoming. Field botanists sit in soggy tents, waiting. Fire lookouts sit in their towers reading book after... Read more

  Posted on 07 July 2015 OUTDOORS

• Selenium & the Prince’s Plume – an Unfinished Tale

  

  Did an errant prince from days of yore in search of El Dorado1 drop his helmet?I thought this might be the case ... I was in the right part of the country. Read more

  Posted on 03 July 2015 OUTDOORS

• Valley of the Angry Fingers (& a Geo-challenge)

  

  Angry Finger, one of many. Gods were nowhere to be seen.In April I toured the Valley of the Gods in southeast Utah, east of Utah Highway 261 below the Moki... Read more

  Posted on 26 June 2015 OUTDOORS