In a Vase at Season's End

Just a few days before Thanksgiving, a first hard freeze hit our area--very late for Southern Wisconsin. I clipped the last of the garden blooms before it hit and created an arrangement of Zinnias, Marigolds, and Lantanas, with a few spikes of Northern Sea Oats.



For staging, I placed pumpkins and pine cones around the base. (This didn't last long, because the cat tried to chew on the lot.)



The vase was saved one from a previous arrangement, which came with a matching autumnal saucer.

Tagetes spp.

Zinnia elegans

Lantana camara

Lantana camara

Chasmanthium latifolium

It's fading now, but it sure was nice to have cut flowers from the garden in late November.

Cathy at Rambling in the Garden hosts the meme In a Vase on Monday. Visit her blog for more cut-flower inspiration.

I hope all who celebrated had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Blessings as we move through the busy holiday season ahead!

Tomorrow's Big Picture

I've been around long enough to know that today is tomorrow's past. The moment after the autumn leaves flame, they're "past peak." When a flower blooms, it starts to fade. When a human being reaches the pinnacle of his or her career (or health or vibrancy), that person begins a certain decline. When we're born, we begin to die (during this life, anyway).

This is not intended to be a downer post. On the contrary, it's to remind me there is more promise in a tiny seed than in a plant in full bloom.

This autumn, I've been collecting seeds--studying them, playing with them, photographing them, appreciating them. What follows is a simple vignette of a few seeds and seedpods that have captured my curiosity.

Rudbeckia hirta

Agastache foeniculum

Phaseolus coccineus

Chasmanthium latifolium

Passiflora incarnata

Lablab purpureus

Mixed prairie grasses

Echinacea purpurea

Conoclinium coelestinum

Asclepias tuberosa

Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks'

All these plants are dormant. To some, they appear small ... insignificant ... boring. To the wise among us, they're stunningly beautiful ... full of promise ... worthy of great praise.

And lest we think of them as "little" things, we must remember that these tiny seeds, together ...



... are tomorrow's "big picture."

They are beautiful and powerful alone, but together in all their diversity and flaws, they can change the world.



Messy, yes ... but think of what they will become.

Foliage as Bright as Blooms

Plant of the Month: Virginia Waterleaf

Hydrophyllum virginianum in springtime

I noticed a few patches of Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum) in our woodland the other day--not the spring flowers, but the foliage.

Hydrophyllum virginianum this fall

Normally they'd be dormant by now in my climate--either dried by parched late-summer days or liquefied by autumn frost. Neither has happened here ... yet.

It's been unseasonably warm and rainy through September and October. We still haven't had a frost (although some areas nearby have had a very light one). In any case, the Virginia Waterleaf is still green.



In the spring and summer, it's a hearty and hardy woodland garden plant. Some consider it a little "weedy," but our woodland is a bit wild. We tend to take a "hands-off" approach in this part of the property--removing only non-native invasive plants.

Virginia Waterleaf has a welcome home in the woodland and the woodland edge. It's a good placeholder to compete with Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata), which is a non-native invasive that would take over the woods if not removed.



Virginia Waterleaf is a natural, pleasant companion to Trilliums, ferns, and other woodland plants. It's a fascinating little plant, really.









From emergence to bud, to bloom to seed, and beyond.



The name comes from the water-drop-like marks on the foliage.

Its native distribution extends through eastern North America--from Quebec to Manitoba, south through the Carolinas and west to Kansas, according to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Growing conditions include:

• Prefers part shade or shade;
• Thrives in rich, mesic soils;
• Spreads via rhizomes and seeds; and
• Is hardy in USDA zones 4-9.

I find the tight buds particularly enchanting.



The five-petal flowers with hairy stamens and sepals are quite whimsical, and they welcome pollinators during their brief bloom time. The color ranges from white to a light lavender hue.



Over the years, my appreciation has grown for this fluffy native plant with "water-stained" foliage.

(Linking to Gail's Wildflower Wednesday, a few days late.)