hiding in plain sight

after almost nine years of still blog, i sometimes feel as if my next subject will have to come from some distant place i’ve never been. nature is vast but not infinite, and i have frisked her pretty thoroughly around my house. and yet as i walked up my own driveway yesterday, this complicated beauty was suddenly there like no big deal. i assumed she had to be a domesticated plant, but no. she is known as obedient plant, and she grows wild across the northern united states. per her name, she posed quite obediently for her portrait, although there was something jaunty in the tilt of her green topknot. i believe she and i will remain friends.

obedient plant blooming (Physostegia virginiana)

fade to white

i can’t decide if the colors of these leeks represent a minnesota winter greening into spring, or a minnesota summer paling into winter. there is a reason, however, that white minimalism seems to match so naturally with northern climates.

leeks

strawberry rhubarb

yesterday i posted rhubarb. my favorite thing in the world is probably strawberry rhubarb pie. so, while i didn’t intentionally plan to post strawberries the day after rhubarb, the universe decided to speak, and i had no choice, apparently, but to listen.

strawberries

a conundrum

plaid, tartan, or check? having consulted my non-scottish conscience i believe this rhubarb weave would best be described as tartan, not plaid, or check, but i will defer to my caledonian followers. please weigh in below.

rhubarb (genus Rheum)

cinderella

i have ignoring apples for this fruit and vegetable experiment, because i was so prepared to be bored by their dull familiarity and vaguely white-ish flesh.. then i sliced one of them into cross sections instead of longitudinally, and out from the scullery walked cinderella in her ball gown and tiara. my lord, apples. why have you been hiding so much beauty inside for so long? go get you a fairy godmother.

apple