The Joshua Tree is perhaps only rivaled by the saguaro cactus as the icon of the desert southwest. Featured on U2’s classic album cover, and now the backdrop of countless instagram glamor shots, its unique, almost alien look is unmistakable.

But for decades the Joshua Tree was looked at with disdain - even loathing and hatred.

Today, our guest is Barret Baumgart, author of the new book, “Yuck: The Birth & Death of the Weird & Wondrous Joshua Tree”. Barret explores the history of the Joshua Tree, in a book that can be considered part history, part natural history, part cultural criticism, and part ecology.

Today, we delve into the strange and winding tail of the Joshua Tree and its history of evading human preconceptions and assumptions.

Living on the edge, it faces a potentially bleak future, but perhaps it will thwart us once again, against all odds.

Be sure to check out Barret on instagram, and on his Substack called Dumpster Fires.

FULL SHOW NOTES

LINKS

Barret's Website, including speaking engagements

Buy YUCK - The Birth & Death of the Weird & Wondrous Joshua Tree, Yucca brevifolia from bookshop.org

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Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!

We love native plants and habit-friendly yards at Nature's Archive, and I have a few exciting updates from my yard: spoiler: native plants are working!

And stay tuned for a re-air of a classic episode with Leslie Inman from Pollinator Friendly Yards. There are plenty of useful insights for both habitat-friendly yard practices, and community building. Afterall, we need everyone to not only take action, but spread the word.

And we have new episodes around the corner, too. It's been incredibly busy these last couple of months, so thanks for your patience as we work to keep all of the proverbial plates spinning!

On to the episode...

I started Nature’s Archive podcast in an effort to understand the stories of people making a difference for the environment. I needed to be inspired, wanted to learn how they did it, and share that inspiration and knowledge with anyone willing to listen.

While we haven’t strayed too far from those initial aspirations, I do have many more topic-centric episodes than I did at the start.

Today’s episode is a “back to my roots” episode. My guest is Leslie Inman, the founder of the wildly popular Pollinator Friendly Yards group on Facebook. With 184,000 members, it is perhaps the top spot for people to discuss sustainable personal landscaping. And even if you are not on Facebook, it’s pretty likely you’ve seen her images and infographics.

Leslie’s story is an amazing example of how a little curiosity can be converted into a hugely impactful movement. Today, we discuss not only how the group formed, but the lessons that she has learned along the way. This includes how to “reach” people who may be skeptical about inviting insects to their yards, how to make it easy to get started, and more.

Leslie also has two books - Your Yard is Nature and The Butterfly Egg and the Little Tree.

FULL SHOW NOTES

Links

• Pollinator Friendly Yards
• Dave Goulson
• Doug Tallamy & Homegrown National Park (TikTok)
• Doug Tallamy appeared on Nature's Archive Podcast Episode #26
• Leslie’s Books - Your Yard is Nature and The Butterfly Egg and the Little Tree
• Mary Reynolds, We Are The Ark
• Nancy Lawson, The Humane Gardener [Book]
• Travis Longcore (light pollution ecologist)
• Wild Ones

Support Us On Patreon!
Buy our Merch!

Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!

Today’s episode is about one of the coolest plants that I can think of - both figuratively and literally!

Stick with me for a moment. When you think of a parasite, what comes to mind? Maybe mosquitoes, ticks, tapeworms. Probably nothing you want to invite into your house or property.

But there are parasites that are super beneficial to ecosystems.

The parasite I’m speaking of is also the cool plant I alluded to. Well, it’s actually a large category of parasitic plants. In fact, they’ve separately evolved on five different occasions. What are they?

Well, mistletoes, of course!

Dr. David Watson joins us all the way from Australia to talk about these spectacular plants. Today you’ll learn why mistletoes are beloved by birds, provide food for many other animals, are key to nutrient cycling, and why they are literally cool plants.

There are even mistletoes that grow on, get this, other mistletoes!

Find Dr. David Watson on Bluesky.

FULL SHOW NOTES including photos!

Support Us On Patreon!
Buy our Merch!

Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!