You know how when you learn a new word you suddenly seem to hear it everywhere? This happened to me recently regarding the word "epicormic." Epicormic growth is the scientific term for when shoots ...

MY YARD IS FULL of eastern white pine trees, and every three years or so, it is full of pine cones. This is one of those years. Pine cones have fallen all over the yard, the sidewalk, the driveway.

As you admire your holiday decorations, pause to examine a pine cone (or a spruce cone or a fir cone). What is this dry, brown thing in your hand, with its airy rows of scales? Think of it as ...