The Node
Woodlander's resource center for plant education, how-to's, garden inspiration, and latest news from Woodlanders.
Cephalanthus occidentalis: Architect of the Shallow Water World
Woodlanders Botanical Essay Architect of the Shallow Water World Cephalanthus occidentalis, the quiet engineer of wetlands, and what it means to be an edge species in an edge era....
Baccharis halimifolia (Manglier): Medicine Along the Marsh Edge
Drive the Atlantic or Gulf coast in late fall and you might think it has snowed along the ditches. There, at the edges where the land hesitates and then...
Why Quercus alba Must Return
If Quercus alba could write its autobiography, it might end with gratitude. Not for the ships it built or the barrels it sealed, but for the overlooked gardeners and land...
Autumn Care for the Southeast’s Heirloom Woody Plants
There’s a certain sleight of hand in the Southeastern autumn. A kind of quiet alchemy, almost invisible if you only watch the trees from above ground. The leaves do their...
At Summer’s End: The Sacred Gardens of Faith
"What is a garden," the monk once asked,"but a prayer made visible?" I felt compelled to write this article after a recent visit to Madrid, where my two sisters have...
Watchers of the Waterways: The History of North America's Willows
In the hush of Southern dusk, where the last ribbons of gold slip off the water and vanish behind the cypress knees, the willow waits. She leans—always leans—toward the current,...
The Wisdom of Withering: What a Southern Garden Teaches Us in July
There comes a time in every Southern garden when the exuberance of spring has worn itself thin. By July, the once-rhapsodic green of May has dulled to olive; leaves begin...
A Tang of Tenacity: The History of Cold-Hardy Citrus Varieties
The development of cold-hardy citrus didn’t begin in a backyard orchard—it began in the laboratories and trial fields of early 20th-century horticulturalists. These early scientists, often working in southern universities...