NativeLea

Native plants and love. I am a seed collector. I hike throughout NYC and the metropolitan region. It is my job to collect seed from our native flora.

[nativelea]

Colors of summer fruit. Cornus racemosa, stems and fruit. Sassafras albidum, stems and fruit. #nativeplants #donoteat #ijustwanttheseeds https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ICScugjP3/?igshid=m98iuoapywl5

[nativelea]

Trash + Beauty= NYC. The dichotomy is just perfect sometimes...for in the end, she will always win. For all the Plant Nerds out there, Carex stricta with traffic cone, Maianthemum canadense with metal, Vaccinium corymbosum in car engine #nativeflora #reclamation #resilience #trashbeauty #shed #nycnature #wildnyc (at Staten Island, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BiYVmGJhrEg/?igshid=7dl2zes1hksb

[nativelea]

Annual Amaranth Survey: one of the gems of NYC. Endangered species will become our new normal...unless we learn how to share and protect habitat. We all depend on it. #nativeflora #endangeredspecies #savehabitat (at Rockaway Peninsula, Rockaway Park)

[nativelea]

The long island of #manhattan from a distance on the crest of Watchung’s First Mountain. #eaglerockreservation #officeview #fieldseason2018 #itscoldouthere

[nativelea]

Getting ready for #earthday creating a mix for native #seedbombs using annual and biennial species. #wildcollected #diversity #localgenetics #nativeplants #nyc (at Greenbelt Native Plant Center)

[nativelea]

This is the #newyorkcity I know. These are the spaces that sustain us, quiet us, purify us. For within the #concretejungle there must be green...we cease to exist without it. #ilovemyjob #savegreenspaces #conservation #seedsaving (at Mount Loretto)

[nativelea]

Huddle close...the nights are getting colder. Last few Fall days...last seeds. 🐞🍁🌾🍂

[nativelea]

Dear #northeast I will forever love your most brilliant season. I will forever #hike with awe and wonder as the impending dormancy creeps in. For we all need #change and it might as well be colorful, loud, and beautiful. #falldays (at Pyramid Mt)

[nativelea]

Today was a good day to be a #seed collector. What a way to end the week. Carya glabra, Quercus rubra, Hamamelis virginiana. #mastyear #hickories #oaks #witchhazel #ilovemyjob (at Mahlon Dickerson Reservation)

[nativelea]

Current scene. High #marsh collecting might be hard on your back, but the zen state is 👌🏼 #paddletowork #iamaseedcollector (at Sawmill Creek)

[nativelea]

A year ago at this time I had stopped going out in the field at almost 9 months pregnant. My body told me to stop. I missed #fall. I missed my favorite, back breaking, busiest season. And with the furious hiking and collecting all day, I found it again. It's here and it's glorious. #ilovemyjob #iamabotanist #seed #conservation #howdoesmybackhurtalready (at Mahlon Dickerson County Reservation)

[nativelea]

You want to be #forager ? You want to eat #wildramps and order them off of fancy menus? This is how you collect #ramps ...collect the seed and grow your own damn patch. STOP digging them up in the forest. STOP ordering them off the menu unless you know they were sustainably sourced. Once you dig up a root system and eat it- IT'S GONE. Plant #seeds , grow, dig, repeat. #soapbox #conservation #nativeflora

[nativelea]

I usually pick up sea glass on the beach. This dreary day made all the colors more saturated and made all the finds more interesting. This dynamic habitat always reminds me that after every storm there is a resurgence of all that is beautiful and binding... #fieldwork #ilovemyjob #biomimicry (at The Conference House)

[nativelea]

Isle of Meadows, one of those obscure properties and perks of NYC Parks employment. Bring your canoe to work and wander the undeveloped and uninhabited island while collecting dripping Prunus serotina, fawning over Asclepias tuberosa and grabbing a shed. #ilovemyjob #iamabotanist #plantsarecooltoo

[nativelea]

As the darkness took over and we all felt hopeless, the Universe smiled and delivered this...thank you notes from 3rd graders, the next generation. "If you're part of the problem you can also be part of the solution." #neverbackwards #bekind #healtheearth #digin (at Plumb Beach, Brooklyn)

[nativelea]

Bring your boat to work day! High marsh, canoe, clouds, sun, Great Egrets, and Ospreys...🙏🏼 Scouting for fall collections was a gift today #livewhatyoulove #ilovemyjob (at Cheesequake State Park)

[nativelea]

The deer never found you and so you stretch and reflex in all your glory. Lilium superbum, I 💛 you. #nativeflora #eatdeersaveplants (at Oakwood, Staten Island)