vincas and violets
On Saturday morning I will be giving a one hour lecture on my new book (STILL: The Art of Noticing) at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. A few days after that, on May 1, I will be hosting my Pub Day Book Launch party at a local Garden shop and farm-to-table restaurant. In other words, I am feeling a little under the gun and scattered. All I had time for today was a handful of periwinkles (vincas) and violets from my yard. The two purples place nice together, I think. Oh, how I miss having enough time to arrange them into a composition worthy of their beauty. Soon….soon.
periwinkles (vincas and violets) and violets (Viola)
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day 4498
I finished the first draft of my 3-part lecture series for the 92nd Street Y coming up in early May, so I had an hour of play-time as my reward. Today was day 4498 of STILL. And I still love doing it!
various stems
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reliably unreliable forsythia and her bait-and-switch cousins
There are certain flowering trees and shrubs that foil me every spring. From a distance they are gorgeous. They beg to be photographed. Every year, I snip a branch, or two branches, or a bouquet of branches, and arrange them in front of my camera. And every year, they are a bust up close. Redbud, red maple, lilacs, apple blossoms, forsythia. In each case, the profusion is where the delight lies. The individual flowers are unremarkable or unphotogenic, or they are spaced so far apart on individual branches that they look downright spare. And so I take my one photo every year, and toss the branches back in the woods. Hey, forsythia. Thanks for nothing.
forsythia
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I think this is lovely! However, perhaps this is one of those subjects that lends itself to patterns or shapes? You do such delightful things with circles!
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Yes, I love this photo of forsythia. I especially like the fact that some of the blossoms are out of focus.
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stubborn spring
Some springs arrive exuberant and generous. Some springs arrive confused and cautious. This year, we are experiencing the latter. The seesawing of temperatures and the lack of rain have every living thing–humans included–in a state of watchful waiting. These tiny leaves feel symbolic of this spring–hopeful yet restrained. Is it time? Is is time now? How about now? Bursting from the seams but not yet ready to commit. I can relate.
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make a promise to the planet
Happy Earth Day! If you are a reader of STILL, you don’t need any reminders about the preciousness of this planet we call home. Having one day a year of bringing that reminder to the attention of the general public is…well…better than nothing. But for us, I know you are with me here, every day is Earth Day. If you want to mark the day with a little something more than the usual, here are a few suggestions:
- Spend an hour picking up garbage in a local park or roadside
- Plant a native tree
- Spend an hour eradicating invasives like buckthorn or garlic mustard
- Join a nature conservancy in your area
- Learn to recognize one new native plant in your neighborhood
- Commit to memory one new bird song
- Figure out one new way to permanently eliminate plastics from your home
Let’s make Earth Day every day, my kindred spirits! I am grateful for every one of you. xo Mary Jo
cattail leaf
Prrfect the way they are thank you very much!
Two beautiful garden thugs!
Did you know common violets produce seeds two ways?? In spring they set seed via flowers followed by seed pods – classic! But during the summer months, they produces flower buds that never open (called cleistogamous flowers) but which develop into fruits with fertile seeds. Thus, they are prodigious self-seeders.
Hope you are able to enjoy all the attention amidst the seeming pandemonium!