Dr. Peter Kennedy knows a lot about how trees and fungi work together in the forest ecosystem. Thanks to a collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, he stands to learn a lot more, and share that knowledge globally, through a detailed study of a forest plot at Itasca State Park.

Kennedy is a professor of plant and microbial biology at the College of Biol...

WADENA, Minn. — Hope Williams instinctively knew how wide one Greater Minnesota county's arms could reach.

She lived in Otter Tail County, in central Minnesota, just a few miles from the Wadena County line.

But like many residents of Greater Minnesota, county lines were practically invisible in her daily life. Williams shopped at Wadena Count...

Q: I’m perplexed by your recent Q & A about how to prune a fern leaf buckthorn that rabbits had feasted on. Why would we grow buckthorn, when many areas are trying desperately to get rid of it? Should we even be planting these shrubs? – Marsha J.

A: You bring up a great point, Marsha, because the buckthorn species Rhamnus cathartica, known a...

A question I often hear from people concerned about migrating birds arriving in the Northland in early spring during inclement weather like what we’re experiencing now, is, “Do migrant birds fly back south?”

While it’s true that gale-force northerly headwinds can drive migrating birds back, by and large, when migrant birds arrive here when the weather becomes...

What do you call a row of rabbits hopping backward? A receding hare line.

Speaking of rabbits, the Easter bunny has disappeared once again to wherever it vacations. Our potted Easter lilies, though, needn’t disappear. With a little luck and extra mulch, they can be planted in our perennial gardens.

Easter lilies are among the most elegant of ...