not even September yet

It is not even September yet, and there are signs of fall everywhere. The cattail tips are yellow and starting to curl. The musk thistle stems are completely done. The enormous burdocks have died back and are setting their giant velcro burrs. And yet, several plants are still blooming as if it’s spring: the goldenrod, the asters, and sunflowers. We are heading into a transition season. And transition seasons are my favorite.

spent musk thistle stem

Today is the day!

After all that hoo-ha about my keynote: today is the day I finally give it. The 112 conference attendees and I will have spent 5 days together, with several other instructors, at Longwood Gardens. I did a similar trip with the organization (called Out of Chicago) last August at Chicago Botanic. Last summer, I was still very much recovering from the house fire. On top of it all Jack the puggle–my beloved sidekick of 17 years–died while I was at the conference. And, yet, even with all that upheaval, I knew that this conference was/is special. It is a self-selecting group that signs up for a 5-day garden photography conference after all. So I chose this image of the dried daylilies because I think the colors look royal and the up-stretched petals triumphal–in other words celebratory!

dehydrator dried daylilies (Hemerocallis)

a composition like no other

Et voila! Yesterday’s musk mallow leaves used in a different context. These are musk mallow and smoke bush leaves. The over-under on the smoke bush leaves is more pronounced than I recall from previous years. But I also pressed them much earlier in the summer than I usually do. The regular ovoid shapes the of the smoke bush leaves, and the snowflake like detail of the cutleaf mallows makes for an interesting combination imho.

pressed leaves of the musk mallow (Malva moschata) with pressed smoke bush leaves (Cotinus)

pressed into service

This summer I came across a new-to-me flower called musk mallow. When I went to look it up, the plant description said that many people grow these for their beautiful cut-leaves. Which made me think I should press some. So I did. They are indeed beautiful. And tomorrow I will show you another composition I made with them. See you soon!

pressed leaves of the musk mallow (Malva moschata)

another new-to-me!

I found these seedpods in the bag of foraged goodies I brought back from Florida last May. I think when I gathered them, they were freshly fallen and looked quite different, because honestly I don’t remember them being this spectacular. These are the curly seedpods of the earleaf acacia tree. I am quite mesmerized by them. I know some (most? LOL) of you live in warmer climates than I do. Do you know this tree? I’m smitten.

Earleaf Acacia (Acacia auriculiformis)