Aging Gracefully

Or should I have said "drying gracefully" instead or dying?  Some things are pretty fine on the way out too. 

Something Old and Something New

New Ginkgo leaves at dusk above is the something new.

And Crepe Myrtle seedpods are the something old.

Tulip Tree Seed Pods in Winter

You gotta look up every once in a while if you want to know a little something about trees. What remains of last year's blooms is still hanging on the Tulip Trees in late February.

Winter Grace

Buds, bare branches that seem frozen in a graceful dancer's pose and the remains of last seasons blooms on a winter walk this morning.

Ghosts of the Season Past

Remember when the anemones were in bloom?

Third Snowfall of the Season and Week

The unseasonable warmth of much of early and mid fall is a thing of the past already, much like the blooms on this rosebush. Winter temperatures are here again and the days are just about as short as they will get. We had our third snowfall of the season and week today and I glimpsed sunlight just for a moment or so on this mostly thick gray-sky day.

My Dad's Hydrangea in November

One day I should check to see if I have a photograph of a hydrangea in some stage, whether leafing out, in bud, a bouquet or dried in winter from every month of the year. Maybe not, but it just might be close.

Playing the What Were You Game

It's the time of year to play the what were you game to see if you can identify plants by their seedheads and what remains after the growing season has ended.

More Durable Than Delicate

Don't let the dainty looks fool you. Hydrangea bracts are more durable than delicate. Five months from now in the coldest winter when most branches are bare and you are inside much more than out, you may find them still hanging about.

The Remains of the Vine

I wonder exactly how long the vine (or vines) has been dead and then also how much longer it will cling to the wall in that eye-pleasing pattern.

I'm assuming that it was also Boston Ivy.

Two Seasons, Same Spot, Same Plant --Oakleaf Hyrdrangea

What remains of an Oakleaf Hyndrangea's bloom and bracts --winter 2017

The beauty of this season will endure longer than you might think is possible.

Things to Do in December Cause You're Not Dead

Although, I have to remind myself that I'm not actually dead in December and to get up and out in search of the pretty little things of winter (like the remnants of the flowers of tulip trees, magnolias and cardoons past pictured here). It justs feel like I am.

 

Two Haunts

Bookends for the year: One picture taken near the year's end and one from its early beginnings at two haunts of mine. (The bike lane near Floyd Bennett and over in Prospect Park.)

 

One definition of haunt I wouldn't have guessed: "to continually seek the company of" and one I would have: "to stay around or persist; to linger". I've always liked the sound of that word, linger.

Tis The Season

Chinese Scholar tree winter silhouette

 

Here, we mark the beginning of the calendar year in the time of bare branches, the landscape largely a canopy of silhouttes and the stubborn remains of flowers past. And though I shouldn't have to remind myself to spend some time outside among these things, it seems somehow again I do.

 

                                                           Monarda seedhead and stalk

The Remains of My Dad's Hosta Flowers

I only harvested a small portion of my dad's hosta buds for bouquets. The remains of some that were left behind are looking allright to me as their petals give way to time and the end of their season.

The Tenses

                                                                                         The Past

                                                                                   The Future

                                                                        and here in the moment

In gardening, it seems time is not linear and you can experience it all in a day. This was a little bit of one of my days at work weeding this week.

On A Windy Sunday Afternoon

What remains of a peony flower.

After the Petals Have Fallen

much beauty remains and there's still the whole year of living and growing to do.

Baptisia Seed Pods in April

I'm a sucker for plants in the pea family (do you think they call the family fabaceae because it's so fab?) and a sucker for plants with pretty seed pods, so I'm doubly done in by our native Baptisia australis. Those rattling seed pods still looked beautiful standing stiffly after the winter before they were cut down this afternoon.

Which Way to Look?

It's hard not to feel like a kid diagnosed with ADHD right about now. I can hardly take a step outside without catching the sight of something fantastic and fleeting. There are fat buds up above on many trees, blooms below, and even now with everything just beginning, still the sight of things fading slowly from both this season and ones past. It's hard to know which way to look. Here: just two blinks of the eye on a walk this week through Brooklyn Botanic.