In a Vase on Monday: Moody Contrasts

While I've combined evergreens and berries with dried elements in past winter vases, it simply didn't fit my mood this week. So I plopped the former in a vase, and gathered the latter for a separate arrangement.



The vase of dried elements isn't as vibrant, but it more accurately reflects how I'm currently feeling. I'm fine...it would be a long, boring story to explain the background on my mood. Anyway...



The dried arrangement isn't exciting, but it works in its spot, at this time of year.



I included several pops of very old, very dried Hydrangea (H. macrophylla) flowers,



Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium),



A sprig of Natal Grass (Melinis repens) from a long-ago arrangement,



Some stems of Hakone Grass (Hakonechloa macra),

Fertile fronds of Fiddlehead Ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris), and

Dried Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum) stems.



The Canada Yew (Taxus canadensis) and Cranberrybush Viburnum (Viburnum trilobum) are fresh and cute. I'll keep them on the back porch for a while to retain their brightness and moisture.

I'm linking in with In a Vase on Monday, hosted by Cathy at "Rambling in the Garden." Head on over to check out creative arrangements by bloggers around the world.

The Butterflies of 2024

Monarch

Happy New Year!

It's winter outside my door, of course, but during the "warm" months, I enjoy tracking and counting butterflies during my hikes and garden adventures, and then reporting my sightings to wisconsinbutterflies.org.

This post includes a few of my butterfly sightings of the past year. There were many more; I tried to include one photo of each species, but I included two monarchs (and some monarch eggs) and two common buckeyes...just because. I also saw some great spangled fritillaries, but the photos were not good. And, of course, I saw many more butterflies that I didn't photograph.

This exercise reminds me why I so enjoy spring, summer, and fall in my part of the world. Winter, meh. Anyway, here goes...

 

American Lady

Black Swallowtail

Cabbage White

Common Buckeye

Fiery Skipper

Eastern Tailed Blue

Least Skipper

Monarch

Monarch Eggs (and Ant)

Mourning Cloak

Common Buckeye

Northern Broken Dash

Orange Sulphur

Painted Lady

Eastern Comma

Pearl Crescent

Red Admiral

Silver-Spotted Skipper

Red-Spotted Purple

Sachem

Clouded Sulphur

Summer Spring Azure

Viceroy

All photos were taken in local natural areas, at botanical gardens, and on my own property. I miss the butterflies, and I look forward to many sightings in the year ahead.

December Blooms

It's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, and I was happy to see a few plants in the sunroom are cooperating. While I have some dried flowers, too, these are the "live" plants currently blooming. First is the Fuchsia (F. hybrida 'Marinka'), which is budding, blooming, and fruiting.



Next, the Gerbera Daisy (G. jamesonii): It seems early for this friend to be starting to bloom, but it certainly brightens these December days.

Finally, the yellow Oxalis (O. vulcanicola 'Zinfandel'), which blooms year-round...outdoors from May through early October, and indoors through the other months. Its foliage is as striking as its flowers. A few other indoor plants are beginning to bud, but I'll include them next month.

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!