Ecological horticulturist Andy Brand can't help himself. He just has to look closely at everything outdoors: every plant, every insect, every process that's unfolding. And he has to take camera phone pictures, too—lots and lots of pictures.
These up-close observations aren't just visually compelling, though. They also pull him down a rabbit hole of inquiry about who or what he's looking at, and what's going on anyhow, and why? Nature's endless fascinations and what they can teach us, if we allow ourselves the time to explore, is our topic today.
Andy Brand, who worked for many years at the rare plant specialty nursery called Broken Arrow in Connecticut, has since 2018 been at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, where he is director of horticulture, managing its big-picture garden scenes, while he also savors the tiny ones, which he shares on Instagram. He encourages us all to slow down and have a closer look and to share some of the ahas he's learned about nature along the way.
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