Make no mistake about it — News Leader readers always come up with some thought-provoking questions, including this inquiry from Nick M. of Staunton: "This is a crazy question, but how do you plant an ...

In his 1803 directive outlining his goals for the expedition, President Thomas Jefferson instructed Meriwether Lewis to record "the soil & face of the country, it's growth & vegetable productions, ...

The fruit of the Osage orange tree. (Clay Wollney) Indeed they do, but you won't see them growing on hedges any more. Better known as the Osage orange, the gnarly green fruit that smells like the skin ...

Question: My sweet southern-raised grandmother, who is an avid gardener, called me a few days ago inquiring where she could find seeds or cuttings of a favorite tree from her childhood. Curious, I ...

Some people call them hedge apples. Others know them as Osage oranges. You see the round fruits lying on the ground in the autumn, conspicuous among the fallen leaves. They look like lumpy oranges or ...

If you take a walk in the forest around Halloween, you might just come across a bunch of what appears to be softball-sized green brains laying all over the ground. If you look up, you may still see ...

Incompatible trees can pose a variety of risks throughout energy rights-of-way (ROW). For one, expansive root systems not only threaten the integrity of oil and gas pipeline infrastructure, but they ...

“Monkey brains!” the kids exclaimed as we reached the old dirt road. I was leading an outdoor school program, and it took me a moment to realize the students were referring to the big, lumpy fruit ...

"To develop a complete mind: Study the art of science; study the science of art. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else." — Leonardo da Vinci As an illustration of the ...

RED OAK, Iowa – Twigs snapped and leaves tore as a grapefruit-sized Osage orange lost its grip high in the tree and slammed into the ground. Whump! Startled, I jerked my head toward the wallop before ...

Every fall Osage oranges or hedge apples are found in some supermarkets in the produce section, but they are not edible. They are sold for decoration and to repel insects. These softball sized ...