A slender stem bearing four leaves and a dozen tendrils takes little room on my desk but fills my mind. This plant has a Midwestern relative, and we experienced a bloody first encounter 49 years ago.

A: Smilax is a vine exquisitely adapted to the South and our Southern gardening habits. If we could only find a way to make use of it ... There are many species of smilax, and I can’t help but point ...

For a couple of decades now, I've entertained myself through the Christmas season by making decorations the old-fashioned way, yanking greenery out of the thickets and hanging it all around the house.

NOT A BUG: Although the new shoots of the greenbrier plant, or Smilax, resemble a creepy critter, the plant is actually a wild edible that is readily found in Western North Carolina. We’re only a ...