silly little sava

two gardener/artist/educators

mainly homebound due to disability (we have, you know, complicated intersections of marginalization and privilege at work too, we're nuanced people you know, but that's sort of the relevant one re: us working from home and having this "professional" tumblr page)

based in the eastern woodlands region of the u.s.

the worker-owners behind Wolf Hill Press, the company we made so we could be

publishers of beautiful, informative, accessible, accurate, and Earth-centered works

our main project is Gardening by the Moon, an incredible calendar created in the 90s by a California hippie. it's an astrological planting calendar, which sounds like some woo-woo nonsense (affectionate) and i'm not saying it's not, but there's some science in there too. i've worked pretty hard on our citations page and i gotta say i'm proud of it (it's updated as the calendar is, as my garden is; i'm always doing research)

one of us had already been a regular Gardening by the Moon customer when the creator retired, and now in addition to the calendar we offer:

reusable seed envelopes

crop- and seed- tracking sheets for your garden notebook or bullet journal

digital calendars optimized for print/large screen or phone/tablet use

holiday cards for the holidays we celebrate in our little found family house (like wolfenoot!)

extremely cost effective gift bundles

the seed envelopes and tracking sheets were developed over years for my own gardening use, and i'm happy to be sharing them with people who might find them useful now. the art on the cards is the art we love to make.

There are going to be menopausal cis mums who are on the same brand of estrogen patch as you who are gonna join you in griping about getting them to stick and swapping tips for when you get dispensed the big patches but your dose is half that.

There are going to be infertile cis women who share your pain and anger at the concept that 'able to bear children' is seen as the only 'real' way to be a woman.

There are gonna be intersex cis women who understand what it's like to have your body's default state not line up with societal expectations.

Closest match: Arianta arbustorum genome assembly, chromosome: 25 Common name: Copse Snail

as promised, a pregnant Aku for winning the first round in the new @need-him-pregnant-poll tournament

me: thanks pal i think im ready to talk to her

my wingman: sick!!! lets go!!!!

Allow me to introduce the new characters:

This piece of lint precious child is Rhombophryne maraorao, a little burrowing species from the northeast of Madagascar. It is very similar ecologically to R. coudreaui, a long-known species from further south. The name maraorao means ‘rough to the touch’ in Malagasy, referring to the rough skin of this species. They do a weird thing where they straighten all of their limbs and go stiff in self defence. Think pumpkin toadlet post-launch mid-air stiffness, but… in the hand?

This beautiful creature is Rhombophryne mavokely, a little leaflitter-dwelling species from the northeast of Madagascar. The name mavokely is the Malagasy word for ‘pink’ but literally translates as ‘small yellow’ (mavo = yellow, kely = small). I LOVE this bizarre etymology, and also this species is small and sometimes pink and sometimes yellowish, so the name seemed extremely apt. This species was the first Rhombophryne I ever saw alive—I caught the first ever specimen immediately underneath my hammock on Marojejy in 2016!

This shiny boy is Rhombophryne sonaliae, a rather well known species from eastern Madagascar that has previously been called R. alluaudi—until we showed in 2019 that the correct use of that name was for a Plethodontohyla alluaudi from southern Madagascar! We dedicated this species to Sonali Garg, in recognition of her fantastic work especially on Asian frogs.

This forbidden truffle is Rhombophryne anatiala, a very poorly known species very closely related to R. sonaliae but found further north and differing subtly. The name anatiala means ‘in the forest’ in Malagasy, referring to the forest habitat of these frogs.

This bumpy beanbag with his go-faster chevron is Rhombophryne kotrobaratra, an interesting species from northeastern Madagascar with rather unusual anatomy, especially its quite long and strong hindlimbs. The name kotrobaratra means ‘thunder and lightning’ in Malagasy, and refers to the inclement weather that seems to bring these frogs out (true for all Rhombophryne, really) .

This coffee bean is Rhombophryne quentini, an orange-thighed species from high-elevation forests in northern Madagascar that resembles R. ellae. Back in 2020 I named R. ellae after my partner, Ella, and I thus took particularly great pleasure in naming this new, closely related species after our four-and-a-half year-old son, Quentin. A little family of frogs. :3

This little pebble is Rhombophryne kilonjy, a small, poorly known and obscure species related to R. ellae and R. quentini but found in lowland forest close to the coast in northwestern Madagascar. The name kilonjy means ‘pebble’ in Malagasy because, well, just look at it.

Even way back in my tumblr posts from 2013 and 2014 I think you would find mentions of the work I had begun on this monograph. I had no notion that it would take more than twelve years to complete. But I cannot express my joy at finally being able to share these charming, round frogs with the world. I hope you approve of the names!

uhhhhh