Plant Families

Learn what makes each plant family special and the surprising connections between them.

Shop

Plant patterns and colors inspire my handmade jewelry, knitwear, accessories, and more.

Blog

Peruse articles on cooking, gardening, botany, and everything in between.


Hello! My name is Victoria. Plants, to me, are the prism through which I see everything: science, art, community, connection, learning, growth, emotions, wonder. Plants offer us opportunities to engage with them in ways that are physical, mental, creative, scientific, and spiritual.

With this site, I hope to share my plant enthusiasm with you, whether you are a seasoned plantsperson or thinking about getting your first houseplant. Gardening is much more than just “the garden”—it is the process of creating and being in a space that brings joy.

Check out the UWM Greenhouse
Follow me on Instagram

Plant Families

Plant families have long fascinated me. What makes an Asparagaceae an Asparagaceae and a Zingiberaceae a Zingiberaceae? Here you will find profiles of different plant families including their keystone species, uses, and characteristics. You might be surprised to learn about the relationships among seemingly dissimilar plants.

Asparagaceae: The Asparagus Family
My life changed during a visit to Malta in 2016. While driving along the scenic coast on a gorgeous sunny day, a gigantic asparagus loomed in the distance. Driving closer, the 30-foot-tall behemoth emerged from a what appeared to be an aloe plant. At the time, I thought—well, I guess they have gigantic asparagus-aloe plants here, what do I know? Only later did I learn that I had seen a flowering agave plant, a botanical relative of asparagus. Why did this change my life? This experience transformed my casual interest in plants into the plant family project you see on […]
Boraginaceae: The Borage Family
Borage is an understated plant that has long appealed to me in the garden for its subtle, starry flower shape, attraction to bees, and ease of reseeding itself every year. Plus, it’s edible. As it turns out, borage belongs to quite a large plant family of over 2,000 species, including forget me nots, comfrey, heliotropes, Virginia bluebells, and many others. They are characterized by hairy or bristly leaves and coiling flower stems that resemble scorpion tails. Borage family plants are also characterized by the presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which often make them poisonous to livestock and a source of debate […]
Cupressaceae: The Cypress Family
Cupressaceae includes the cypresses, “false” cedars, junipers, redwoods, and sequoias. This diverse family of plants has worldwide distribution across many latitudes and altitudes, from the highest mountains and circumpolar regions to shrubby deserts and temperate rainforests. Its species are characterized by fragrant, soft, pest- and decay-resistant wood that is a sought-after source of timber. Species in this family have a long evolutionary record, going as far back as 200 million years ago. Fossil remains indicate that they were much more widely distributed before the last ice age caused extinctions. They have separate male and female cones, usually on the same […]
Adoxaceae: The Elderberry Family
If you know any plant from this family, it is likely to be elderberries. Elderberries have grown in popularity in recent years as health supplements to treat and prevent colds and other ailments. Although most of the 150-200 species of this family are elders and viburnums, it is sometimes called the moschatel family after its namesake, the moschatel plant (A. moschatellina). Moschatel grows throughout much of the northern hemisphere in shady, damp boreal regions. The four-sided spring flowers give rise to some of its other common names: five-faced bishop, townhall clock, and Good Friday plant. The word moschatel itself echoes […]
Sapindaceae: The Soapberry Family
What do maples, lychees, and soapnuts have in common? As the maple leaves turn from green to red and orange this fall, you may be surprised to learn not just a few things about this ubiquitous Wisconsin tree but also its far-off relatives on the other side of the world. Who would have thought that the lychee was a relative of the maple? Or that there are plants that are “soapy”? The soapberry family (Sapindaceae) is one of the most intriguing families of plants I have yet found. There are nearly 2,000 species ranging from lychee and other tropical fruits […]
Verbenaceae: The Verbena Family
Lemon verbena is one of my favorite aromatic tea herbs. It belongs to a delightful family of unique, fragrant plants favored by pollinators and used in different cuisines. The Verbenaceae family of about 1,200 species has mostly tropical flowering plants with hairy, serrated leaves and spikey—sometimes woolly—inflorescences made up of small fragrant flowers. Most are native to the Americas, although the true vervains are native to Eurasia. Fragrant Flowers That Pollinators Love The fragrant, attractive flowers of this family’s species make them popular with pollinators like birds, butterflies, and bees. The beebrushes (Aloysia), of which lemon verbena is a member, […]

Recent Posts

  • The Radish Around the World

    The Radish Around the World

    The radish: that beaming red crunchy and spicy lunch snack. Like many of the “modern” vegetables pumped out to us at “modern” grocery stores, the real story is much more diverse. There are in fact many radishes of all shapes, sizes, and colors, and they aren’t all just for munching or adding to salads. Welcome…

  • Cycads: Living Fossils

    Cycads: Living Fossils

    The plant world has numerous, amazing examples of resilience. Cycads, for example, are fascinating ancient plants thought to have evolved from ferns. Having been around for nearly 300 million years, they are models of longevity and hardiness. What are cycads? Think dinosaurs and the Jurassic period, which was so dominated by cycads that it is…

  • Beatrix Potter: Amateur Mycologist

    Beatrix Potter: Amateur Mycologist

    By Rosalie Robison Many know Beatrix Potter as the author and illustrator of famous children’s books like The Tale of Peter Rabbit, but there’s another side to her. Before she became known for popular children’s characters like Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle Duck, she drew hundreds of fungi and experimented with growing mushroom spores. One…

  • Orchids All Around Us

    Orchids All Around Us

    Crazy fact: Nearly one of every ten species of flowering plants is an orchid. Current tallies have about 28,000 species of orchids (with many, many more hybrids and cultivars), which is twice as many bird species and four times as many mammal species. For some reason, I have never much cared for orchids. Something about…

  • Strawberries and… My Fruit Trust Issues

    Strawberries and… My Fruit Trust Issues

    It’s strawberry season, which in my view officially kicks off the season of fresh fruit–finally! I have issues… with fruit. Up until now only a select few in my close circle have been aware of my…what should I call it: Fruit phobia? Fruit antithesis? Fruit nemesis??? The truth is, I have fruit trust issues. Too…

  • Ephemeral Spring Treats

    Ephemeral Spring Treats

    Ephemeral: something that lasts for a very short time Fresh: new or recently made, as being not spoiled or not preserved, or as being energized or not tired. Spring is a time like no other. After the utter desperation of winter, we are starved for vibrant life and color. I have heard the season described…