Joyce Hostyn

“We never know how our small activities will affect others through the invisible fabric of our connectedness. In this exquisitely connected world, it’s never a question of “critical mass. It’s always about critical connections.”

- Grace Lee Boggs

Pollinators of all sorts enjoying Devils Walking Stick (Aralia Spinosa). After flowering migrating birds feast on the berries.

Discovered a bumble bee nest under a leaf bag. Possibly brown-belted bumble bees?

Updated plant hardiness zones for Canada and assessment of change over time Scientific Reports - Updated plant hardiness zones for Canada and assessment of change over time

Wow - the science behind the updated plant hardiness map for #Canada rdcu.be/evpvj. Largest changes in the west/northwest mostly due to warmer temperatures. No changes in some areas, but #Halifax (south-central NS) sees a 0.5 zone increase, changing rain patterns contributing. planthardiness.gc.ca

Picture of a song sparrow nest with four speckled eggs in the midst of old goldenrod stems

Found a Song Sparrow nest at Lakeside today just before Paul Preston, who’s doing a Song Sparrow study this summer arrived to facilitate an urban bird workshop. If you find one let Paul know, he’s looking for 100. #ygk kingstonfieldnaturalists.org/nests-in-the....

The End of Winter When we, humans, were created we were encouraged to follow the animals because they had been here longer than we were and they knew what they were doing. I was told that our Anishinaabe clan system de...

Fisher’s story reminds us: winter exists to slow our greed. We must reject the lie of human centrality, remember our stories, and honor the balance of all life. Put down your tobacco, keep your promises. Radical change begins in relationship.

www.thousandworlds.ca/the-end-of-w...

Biology is Bigger than Binaries Poster by Franz Anthony Article by Dr. Jess McLaughlin Biology is never simple, especially when it comes to sex! Here's some cool examples of how diverse sex can be in nature. How Many Sexes Are...

From that lily in your yard, the bees that buzz around it, to the clownfish on TV, you don't need to look far to find examples of how nature breaks expectations.

@jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social wrote about how "Biology is Bigger than Binaries," because nature laughs at the tiny boxes we put them in.

A path to reconciliation between Indigenous and settler–colonial epistemologies There is a movement across settler–colonial institutions of education and research to engage with Indigenous Peoples and Knowledges. Many settler and Indigenous governments are pursuing pathways to m...

Big shoutout to newly minted Dr. Gazing Wolf for leading this article published today— thankful to be part of it!

esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Plz check out Gabriella Hirst's work on the intersection between war & ornamental cultivars

An English Garden publication is on nuclear weapon development & roses:
gabriellahirst.com/An-English-G...

Battlefield is a garden & publication on 200 war-related cultivars:
www.battlefield.garden/about/

The West, Rewritten Imagine a Europe that stops measuring its virtue by comparison and starts measuring it by consequence. That actually asks "Who do we harm? And how do we stop?" That does not seek to escape its past, b...

"for every dollar of aid the Global South receives, it loses fourteen through profit repatriation, tax avoidance, debt servicing, and trade mispricing. In total, over $2.2 trillion flows annually from the South to the North" www.resilience.org/stories/2025...

Ducks in the pond! Fingers crossed they’ll nest again this year.

Designing Abundance with Claudia West - Wonderground A conversation with trailblazing landscape architect and ecological design advocate, Claudia West

"The wildest places out there are urban landscapes. They are the steep embankments where no humans ever go or the spaces between highways. These places are very much the new frontier." Claudia West wonderground.press/people/claud...

Digital drawing of The trans flag as painted stripes.

Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility.

There’s much to do everywhere so that trans and non-binary people can live without fear.

Our single point of reflection is this:
what’s your organisation doing to support trans+ people?

Branches of Red Osier Dogwood (red willow) coated with ice, with White Pine in background

Red Osier Dogwood (red willow) shrub coated with ice, in the ditch next to a oroad

pictures of the hands of a woman with a knife scraping the bark of Red Willow into a bowl

Enjoying the beauty of Red Willow Mskobiimwish (Red Osier Dogwood) coated in ice, feeling grateful for last weekend's teachings by Elder Deb St. Amant of Mskobiimwish (Red Willow)'s gifts, including use as Asemaa

I've been meaning to read Max Liboiron's book "Pollution is colonialism", they really challenge my thinking assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/f7ca9afb-82c...

screenshot from "A Declaration for Air" prepared by Centric Lab with the words: The Air is alive. They are Kin. They create life. They are part of our Great Creator. They consist of life-sustaining microbes, nutrients and oxygen. Without these element, Air is erased. We are asking for the right for Air to exist freely, expansively and abundantly. When we understand that Air is medicine, they become the medicine our bodies need.

Air is Kin: "Air has a dynamic ecology... The microbiome of the air (the aerobiome) is primarily 'fed' by the soil & vegetation... We inhale the exhalations of plants & diverse microorganisms as they inhale ours––the most magnificent occurrence of unconscious reciprocity." www.thecentriclab.com/aik

No Gardener Ever Made a Rose Everything is an ecology

"Those that tend the garden via 'conservation' and strange fragmented phrases like 'applied ecologies' of our natural world do so not for the garden, not for the rose, but for the gardeners alone. And what lonely gardens we create." justinthomas.substack.com/p/no-gardene...

"Considering the role of humans in modern landscapes... [it means] sitting, listening, and observing... asking living systems what they need... ...being different people than we are now because we know it doesn’t get fixed until we fix ourselves." Justin Thomas mdc.mo.gov/sites/defaul...

Conservation’s Most Pressing Questions Does the Land have a Spirit? Do we show Land Respect? Do we have Knowledge? Do we have Wisdom? Do we Heal? Harm? Do we foster Community? Ego? Is breaking virgin Land Progress? White oak with unerly…

"Does the Land have a Spirit?

Do we show Land Respect?

Do we have Knowledge?

Do we have Wisdom?

Do we Heal? Harm?

Do we foster Community? Ego?

Is breaking virgin Land Progress?"

prairiebotanist.com/2024/08/29/c...

YouTube video by Pollinator Friendly Alliance Working the Night Shift: Pollinators After Dark

Do you need a nice activity for your lunch break? Check out this overview of nighttime pollination by @emtomology.bsky.social youtu.be/JSrAthMPjyc?...

Graphical abstract of: Answering key bumble bee conservation questions by studying discovered wild nests - A Bombus affinis case study

So, you found a #BumbleBee nest – now what? Read the #conservation importance of studying wild nests & data collection guidance in our newest #RESInsectConsDiv paper on a US federally endangered species🐝

#OpenAccess🔽
buff.ly/geI0AfD

@johnmola.bsky.social @manusaunders.bsky.social @wiley.com

A small sparrow looks up into the bare branches of a tree where a distant crow is perched. "Crows are so creepy," it says, "ominously perched in a dead tree...". The sparrow starts to see the crow with glowing eyes and jagged teeth, "who knows what they're up to...". The crow is now seen wearing strange occult symbols, a strange liquid drips from its eye, it is muttering something in an eerie and unknown language. "Conjuring demons?" the sparrow continues postulating, "Human worship? Rodent necromancy?" The crow is now seen as a normal crow, and the sparrow is right beside it, looking at it, and says: "Teach me your ways"

From the NativePlantGardening community on Reddit: Who you are leaving your stems up for! Explore this post and more from the NativePlantGardening community

TINY BEES

#tinybees

"this middle space where language, fact, art, and meaning mingle is where we find the most agency and purpose... we need more members of this chorus making beautiful art of fact and instilling more fact into our art."

Leaf-damaging behavior by queens is widespread among bumblebee species - Communications Biology Experiments with captive and wild queens show that leaf-damaging behavior is widespread among bumblebee species and can accelerate plant flowering.

Incredible: New proof that #bumblebee queens destroy leafs (probably helping to found new colonies)! This again can accelerate flowering :)
From researchers @ethzurich.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Forgot the reference The Landscape Laboratory Concept in Scandinavia Beyond the mainstream in landscape planning and design: www.skogur.is/static/files...

"The story of the shit fence" - string a perching wire & birds deposit their gifts. Would need some editing to remove unwanted plants

Chickadees enjoying late season snacks in the Staghorn Sumac