2016 was another busy year at Awkward Botany headquarters. A major highlight was the response I received from the Help Wanted announcement that I posted early last year. Several people expressed interest in writing guest posts, while several others volunteered to help out in other ways (contributing images, illustrations, logos, etc.). The offer still stands, so please be in touch if you would like to contribute in any way.

Speaking of being in touch, the comments I’ve received and the connections I’ve made through social media and beyond really add to the experience of doing this blog. Not only does it make this more of a conversation, but it is greatly motivating to know that people find this to be a valuable and entertaining resource. Thank you to all who have reached out. And thanks to silent observers as well. Let’s stay in touch.

As I have done in the past, I am including a list of some of the posts from this past year, mainly those that are part of ongoing series. Many posts don’t fall within these categories, so all others can be found in the ‘Archives’ widget on the right side of the screen.

Book Reviews:

• Bringing Nature Home
• Jade Pearls and Alien Eyeballs
• Children’s Books About Evolution

Poisonous Plants:

• Lima Beans
• Heartbreak Grass

Famous Botanists in History:

• Zhan Wang

Drought Tolerant Plants:

• The Junipers
• The Yarrows
• Pearly Everlasting

Field Trips:

• Utah State University Botanical Center
• Bruneau Dunes State Park
• Coolwater Ridge Lookout
• Mud Springs Ridge and Cow Creek Saddle

Ethnobotany:

• Cattails
• The Henna Tree

Botany in Popular Culture:

• Saga of the Swamp Thing

Tiny Plants:

• Duckweed
• Idahoa scapigera (posted at The Closet Botanist)

Rare and Endangered Plants

• Texas Wild Rice

Podcast Review:

• Native Plants Podcast

Guest Posts:

• Jeremiah Sandler: Confidential Carnivore, Thoughts on Equisetum Phylogenesis, The Problem with ‘Yes’ Landscapes, and Cedar Confusion
• Mesquite Cervino: The Nippleworts of Camassia Natural Area
• Samuel Malley: Influence of a Passion

What Is a Plant, and Why Should I Care? part one, part two, part three, part four

Along with the great guest posts, I also received Awkward Botany logos from three incredible artists/graphic designers. I loved them all, and I am very thankful for the time and talent that was spent creating them. The logos are featured below. In order of appearance they were created by Franz Anthony, Mesquite Cervino, and Mara McCall. If you have an idea for an Awkward Botany logo, please let me know. I would love to see it.

And now a heads up…

In the coming months I plan to focus most of my posts on “weeds” and invasive species. These are topics that I have found increasingly intriguing, so I am hoping that writing a long series of posts about them will help satisfy my curiosity. This may or may not be your thing, but I hope you will stick around regardless. I plan to continue to include some guest posts, which will hopefully help break up the monotony. Also, I know I said this last year and it didn’t actually happen, but I will most likely be taking some breaks from my weekly publishing schedule in order to work on some other projects. Those projects and more will be revealed at some point in time, along with other ideas I have rolling around in my head. If the thought of me taking breaks from posting here bothers you, I invite you to join me on twitter and tumblr, where I will continue to post random things regularly.

Until then, I wish you all a splendid 2017. It should be an interesting one, so buckle up.