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The Art of Living in Season
Native Garden
"Ask yourself, what if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?"
Rachel Carson
Phenology is the study of the periodic changes in nature in one ecosystem throughout the year. Like music, nature has rhythms, and invites to observe, appreciate, and – why not? – step in and dance with them in grateful response.
A phenology wheel (see above and below) records these observations pictorially. It depicts at a glance what is happening in one ecosystem one month or season at a time. The wheel might include flowers, buds, leaves, local fauna, seasonal weather patterns and the movements of the stars through the year and, sometimes, even the liturgical seasons that accompany these changes in nature. It is is a helpful tool to help increase awareness of and responsibility for the creation, especially in our own place.
On this wheel, I recorded my observations of the native plants of the northern Midwest of
the United States in 2025.
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