Thursday, May 11, 2017

one mahonia leaf

The color of old mahonia leaves has been spectacular this spring. I harvested lots of them for recent arrangements (not an easy task, given how prickly they are), but these two leaflets got special treatment because they were so very red. I cut a slit in the top of the lemon before wedging them in. This "arrangement" is over a week old and hasn't changed a bit, A mahonia leaf might fade a bit over time, but it couldn't wilt if it tried.

tulip-tree flower--gift of a squirrel

It's always been clear to me, when these tulip-tree flowers land on the ground, that they have been snapped off by something, and I guessed it was squirrels but didn't know for sure until---ta da--last week when Estelle Porter told me she had actually observed it. I'd love to know why they do it, because where they snip the flowers off--usually about 1/2 inch down the stem--doesn't seem to make sense, food-wise. Maybe that's a good spot for sipping sap?  

Marion David gave me the sweet little vase (which she made).


Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Crossvine (Bignonia)

LOVE this native vine. Flowers are sort of terra-cotta colored and hang in beautiful clusters. They look like trumpet vine, but aren't. This is crossvine, or Bignonia, which blooms in spring (as opposed to trumpet vine, a woodier vine, which blooms in summer). I've used crossvine flowers in half a dozen ways today--in big and small arrangements--but my favorite, naturally, is this windowsill-sized arrangement.  It's just one little leftover cluster of flowers in a small black vase (with a snippet of borage behind to help hold it up).  I love the way the flowers show up against the black vase.


radish thinnings

Thinning radish seedlings today, I wound up with these in my hand. Thought I'd put them on my sandwich for lunch, but they were so pretty, I put them in a tiny vase instead.