From AwayToGarden.com and RobinhoodRadio.com, this is AwayToGarden with Margaret Roach.

You're a weekly invitation to dig in and grow.

Ecological horticulturist Andy Brandt 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. More in a moment, but first, these messages.

Underwriting Support from Colorblends, supplying top quality spring blooming Dutch flower bulbs

to landscape professionals and ambitious home gardeners. More information on the web colorblends.com.

Programming and underwriting support from Royal Botanic Gardens, publishers of Cue Pocket

Books, small gift books illustrated from Cue's vast collection of Botanic Alert.

The most recent book, Fun Guy, about the strange and singular world of mushrooms,

Toadstools and their kin in bookstores now.

Andy Brandt, 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 has director of horticulture, managing its big picture

garden scenes while he also savers the tiny ones which he shares on Instagram.

He's here today to encourage 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. Hi Andy, I'm so glad to

...