pressed into service

I was moving these smoke bush leaves from the book they got pressed in to a folder to bring to Longwood. First I took them out of the book, and piled them willy nilly on the kitchen counter. When I looked at my absent minded piles, it stated to look like a forest. So I transferred them first to my black background, snapped a few shots, and then on to my folder for transport to Longwood where they will be pressed into service as compositional teaching materials.

pressed smoke bush leaves in early autumn (cotinus)

weightless

My son, Joseph, found this tiny delicate nest on the ground at a friend’s cabin in northern Minnesota. It is made primarily with pine needles. It feels weightless in my hand. I wonder if it was blown to the ground before it was completed–it seems too insubstantial to safely hold eggs. I’ve been trying to identify the birds that build primarily with pine needles. Blue birds and pine warblers are the two species who’s name keeps showing up. Blue birds build in tree cavities. So, without 100% conviction, I am thinking this is a pine warbler nest.

pine warbler(?) nest (Setophaga pinus)

one more quiz

Okay, last quiz for a while I promise: Do any of you know what these are? I had one heck of time trying to ID them online. Google AI finally got me there. I will fill you in tomorrow with the my, and AIs, best guess.

Update: Ginny suggested you all need more details, and she’s right! Here are the facts: Gathered in Florida on April 30th, on the grounds of my hotel in Bonito Springs. The hotel was heavily landscaped with lots of mature old trees of all kinds, and it didn’t occur to me to look up or around at the lush landscaping. Each spike (??) is about 10-12 inches long unless it’s broken. They are brittle, presumably from being dried out, and break easily. If you zoom in they look a lot like braided leather–but feel much more brittle.

xo Mary Jo

fallen male pollen cones of the Longleaf Pine (I think!)

capturing color

I am still playing and experimenting with our new dehydrator. I started using it mostly to quickly generate teaching materials for my workshops. But I am finding that it drying my specimens in interesting ways, especially if I have it set to a low heat. It seems to be locking in more color than if I had let the leaves or flowers dry naturally (usually hung upside down in the garage). If the heat gets too high, I get the opposite effect––I essentially crisp everything to a dull brown. These smoke bush leaves (one of my favorite leaves for STILL compositions) were picked this week, and then dried for a couple days in the dehydrator. I love how the drying process seems to have amplified the colors that were starting to turn; sort of like concentrating flavors by roasting your tomatoes in the oven for 45 minutes. That tomato reference made me hungry, and I am now realizing these leaves look delicious enough to eat!

dried early autumn smoke bush leaves (Cotinus)

P.S. Yesterday’s image was cutleaf teasel leaves (Dipsacus laciniatus)

what the weird?

I started to write about these leaves. But then I wondered if anyone would be able to guess what they are. Any guesses?

cutleaf teasel leaves (Dipsacus laciniatus)