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Arbutus menziesii

Arbutus menziesii: The madrone has sleek, papery, burnt-orange bark that peels to a lascivious smoothness.
'Daisy Border' by landscape architect Ken Smith; Photo: Cornerstone Festival of Gardens
Cornerstone Festival: The Art of Landscape Design


Cornerstone Festival: The Art of Landscape Design
Hundreds of spinning pinwheels masquerading as daisies are among the eye-popping sights at an unusual roadside attraction in Sonoma Valley's wine country. The Cornerstone Festival of Gardens is nine acres devoted to some of today's most provocative ideas in landscape design.

Climbing Big Trees to Understand Them
A new tree-climbing institute in Oregon wants to increase awareness of old-growth forests by helping people explore treetop ecosystems. But the group wants to make sure the venture does less harm than good. Ketzel makes the climb.

Devil's Club: A Medicine Cabinet for Alaska Tribe
In Sitka, Alaska, one of the most revered members of the community is the thorny devil's club. But the plant's popularity as a medicinal may endanger its sacred role in Tlingit culture.

Green Roofs Sprout Up All Over
The idea of covering the tops of buildings with plants, trees and grasses is as ancient as Mesopotamia. Touted as a solution to environmental problems, "green" roofs are increasingly showing up around the country.

Researchers Set Height Limit on Tall Trees
It is theoretically impossible for trees to be more than 426 feet tall, according to researchers. Reasons for the limit? Water and gravity.

Touring the Bush Ranch
President Bush's top getaway, his ranch in Crawford, Texas, is also the place where Laura Bush seems to find the most solace. Ketzel gets a rare tour of the ranch with the first lady.

A Very Live Oak
The Village Sentinel keeps a watch over residents of a Georgia retirement community. Ketzel visits the mighty oak and collects stories about it in the conclusion to her big-trees series.

Bushwhacking with a Big-Tree Hunter
Ketzel accompanies big-tree hunter Bob Van Pelt in search of some of the world's biggest specimens. The story is the latest in her series on big trees.

A Walk Among the Giants
Ketzel continues her series, Big Trees and the Lives They've Changed, with a trip to California's Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

Big Trees and the Lives They've Changed
Big trees are the stuff of poetry, religion and story. They are an integral part of the human experience. Ketzel reports in a special series about big trees and the lives they've changed.

The Bird Singer and His Travel Log
Ketzel profiles Charles Kellogg, an amazing bird singer who was one of the most eccentric champions of the California redwoods.

An Irish Garden
Ketzel visits Helen Dillon's Dublin garden and discovers the work of a conjurer who mixes plants, colors and shapes in seemingly random combinations.

The Kalmiopsis Wilderness
Ketzel hikes in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness a year after the Biscuit Fire of 2002, and finds a wilderness blooming in a charred landscape.

Plant Disease In Oregon
Ketzel Levine goes into the field with John Griesbach, plant pathologist for the Oregon Department of Agriculture, to track down plants possibly infected wtih Sudden Oak Death.

Chlorophyll Art
Ketzel travels to Palo Alto., Calif., to profile the young Vietnamese photographer, Binh Danh, who uses the power of the sun to print pictures on leaves.

The Quick and Dirty Tour
It has been so very, very long since Ketzel's opened the doors to her garden. After a few months (or was it weeks?) of stability, there's change in the works. But you can't be surprised if you call yourself "Gardener."

The Quest for Erythronium
Looking for wildflowers is a day's outing for most of us, but for Englishman Keith Wiley it's a pilgrimage worthy of 6,000 miles. Ketzel caught up with Keith and his wife, Ros, in the Oregon woods.

A Botanical Walk in the Woods
Ketzel won't carry on too much about the explosion of life and color that is springtime in the Columbia Gorge, but here's a bit of the splendor now blooming.



Copyright © 2004 National Public Radio, Washington, D.C.