Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Wildflower Wednesday: Faded Memories


Gardening--and blogging, too, to a certain extent--have been put on hold for the past week while I've been trying to get my house presentable enough for Thanksgiving dinner, working several days, and fighting off a nasty cold/virus.  But I didn't want to miss out on today's Wildflower Wednesday, hosted the fourth Wednesday of every month by Gail whose Clay and Limestone garden of wildflowers and natives is a true haven for pollinators of every sort.

Since many of you no doubt are also busy getting ready for Thanksgiving, I'm making the pictures large and the words few . . .


After several hard freezes, there are no blooming wildflowers here anymore, but the dried remains of many hint at their former glory and add some visual interest to the late fall garden.  The dried flowerheads of the goldenrod growing wild here suggest different bloom times or perhaps even different varieties, ranging from the brown above . . .


. . . to white, poofier seedheads, reminding me of Christmas snow.


Seedheads of Butterfly Weed are a dramatic contrast to other stems and seedheads.


Another plant growing wild next to outbuildings is Tall Boneset (I think).


Now that it's stripped of most of its foliage, the "weedy" tree behind the butterfly garden is easier to identify.  The red stems of the numerous suckers of this tree confirm my suspicions that this is a Rough-eared Dogwood.


The Frost Aster, featured on my last Wildflower Wednesday post, is still holding on to its blooms.


From a distance--or without my glasses--these puffs of white look as though they've been coated with snow.


The shriveled pokeberries have turned into poke-raisins.


Although technically not a wildflower, the old-fashioned hollyhocks might as well be in my garden,  popping up at will here and there.


Also not a wildflower, switchgrass is nevertheless a native to the prairie.  The new 'Shenandoah' cultivar promises to be an appealing addition to the lily garden.



Another native, the Purple coneflowers will hang around all winter, providing tasty snacks for the finches.



Even the less showy Rudbeckia seedheads look good bobbing in the breeze
and bathed in early morning light.


While I've seen so many asters still in bloom on many other posts, mine are long past their prime.  Still, these powder-puff (as Frances called them) remains have a certain visual appeal. 

Somewhere there are probably some real wildflowers still in bloom . . . do check out other posts at Gail's to see what might be blooming in other parts of the country.


As we enter the holiday season, I have much to be thankful for, but today I am especially thankful for the soaking rain that fell yesterday, adding some much-needed moisture to my parched garden. And I'm thankful to all of you for taking time to stop by . . .

Wishing all of you

A very Happy Thanksgiving!

29 comments:

  1. The wildflowers here look much the same Rose. I hope you and yours have a wonderful thanksgiving.

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  2. Those are beautiful photos of beautiful natives Rose! I'm so glad it's now 'allowed' to leave a lot standing over the winter - good for the critters and beautiful to look at!

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  3. We love the winter garden too with the dried foliage and color; and the birds eat mightily on the seeds all season long.

    Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family dear Rose. And do get over that cold... warm salt water washes/rinses crack it every time. ;)

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  4. There is real beauty in the faded dry seeds and stalks. I particularly like how you captured the light on the rudbeckia, very nice shot. Love the poke raisins!

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  5. Hi Rose, I am always amazed just how beautiful the seedheads look at this time of year. A touch of frost would add a sprinkling of magic to these pretty images.

    I have also been tidying the house. I spend so much time in the garden, I often feel I neglect the home. This week has been dedicated to giving it some attention. I wish I could say I was enjoying it (I would rather be outside).

    We do not celebrate Thanksgiving in UK......I wish you and yours a very very hapy day.

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  6. So pretty but sad too as it is all skeletons from the past. You have a very wonderful Thanksgiving!!! And get well soon!

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  7. Happy Thanksgiving! Your seedheads & seedpods are so dramatic and graceful. I'd be tempted to cut the butterfly weed pods to use in floral arrangements.

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  8. The best thing about seeing lots of seedheads of course is the promise of new flowers to come next year :) Also as you mention they provide food for the birds and of course shelter for insects.

    I do like the Rudbeckia photo, Rose I thought that was lovely!

    I am so glad you got the rain you needed. It has turned much colder again here and they say we will have snow over the next few days.

    I hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving :)

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  9. Such variety! I love it! Especially the poke raisins. lol
    Happy Thanksgiving. :0)
    David/ Tropical Texana/ Houston

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  10. These are such wonderful photographs! They all illustrate the lovely and varied textures and forms of the final stage of our beloved flowers. I love them! They all have great appeal! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. ;>)

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  11. You have some great textures in your garden that are sure to be interesting all winter! Speaking of winter, we are now getting sleet here (I'm glad to be warm inside). Happy Thanksgiving!

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  12. I bet the birds are happy that you've left so many seedheads for them this winter. Plus it adds alot of interest over the next few months too. :)

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  13. Rose, Aren't they lovely! Seedheads are perfect for a November wildflower post! You'll have more of them next season and the critters will thank you now and then! Thank you so very much for joining the celebration~gail

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  14. Poke-raisins, I like it! :) There is much beauty to be found in spent plants and seedheads. And the birds love them too!

    Wishing you a happy Thanksgiving!

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  15. You manage to find beauty and convince me of it in so many unlikely places!

    Happy Thanksgiving!

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  16. I think if you took some cuttings of all these spent flowers you'd have a great looking "frosty" bouquet.

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  17. Thanks, Lisa; my garden is pretty much brown now. But at least it has been watered!

    Cyndy, I'm glad, too--these "remains" will look even better with a coating of snow.

    Di, The birds have a feast here every winter. Thanks for the advice--I think I'm finally on the mend.


    Laurrie, Thanks for dropping by! I've learned to appreciate the beauty of even dried stalks and seeds.

    Cheryl, I realized as I wrote this that this is an American holiday; every day should really be a day of Thanksgiving. Yes, a little snow would add a great touch to these seedheads.

    Tina, One of the benefits of the tattered remains is to help me remember what was growing where. Of course, next year they will probably come up some other place:)

    MMD, That is a great idea! I'm not much of a floral designer, but maybe next year I'll try this.

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  18. Songbird, Thanks--no doubt I will have many more of these natives next year. We've had quite a bit of rain the last few days, making for some nasty weather, but the garden certainly needed it.

    David and Melanie, Thanks; and you could come rake some of my leaves when you're done:)

    Carol, Thank you so much!


    Rose, We had the sleet, too--I'd much rather have snow!

    Racquel, There's always something here for the birds to snack on.

    Gail, Thanks for hosting once again! I didn't think I'd have anything this month, but the natives do look pretty in their fall dress, don't they?

    Sweetbay, Thanks and a happy holiday to you, too!

    Liz, Thank you for such a sweet comment! I'm learning to look for beauty and peace in the simplest of things.

    Susie, That is a great idea, and I wish I'd thought of it for a Thanksgiving bouquet before the rains came.

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  19. Happy (late albeit) Thanksgiving day to you. I hope you are feeling you best soon!
    Rosey

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  20. Rose, I love the seedheads almost as much as the flowers themselves. Their beauty is of a different sort, but without the flash of flowers, you get to see structure. Also, they hold the promise of another spring within their seeds. Happy Thanksgiving.~~Dee

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  21. Rose girl your seed heads are lovely!
    They always remind me of Halloween for some reason .. I guess it is the flower's skeleton type of idea? LOL
    And Shenandoah is a favorite of mine since I have one too and it looked so beautiful all Fall : )
    I want my rudbeckia seed heads to look more like yours .. I guess I have to let them go longer so they are really cleaned out by the birds
    I hope you are feeling better Rose .. it really sucks to have a "bug" when you are in the middle of all this holiday activity .. and you are so right not to get caught up in that silly shopping CRUSH!
    Take care girl : )
    Joy

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  22. We are often too busy to reflect on this beautiful time of year. Thank you for keeping us focused, dear Rose. Many these all sustain us in thankfulness for the past and hopefulness for spring. Thanksgiving is in the hearts of all gardeners and a special thoughtful note for you, dear friend.

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  23. Your garden dried wildflowers are lovely. So many interesting textures. I hope you are feeling better now. I just got back from NYC.

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  24. love the photos, i like all those white poofy things especially.

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  25. Oh, my....I really, really like the poke-raisins photo, the sky is amazing.

    Looking at all the dried remains of your wildflowers makes me think that I should not be cutting everything down to the ground in the fall. I'm partial to all the plants that look white/puffy...I want to reach out and touch them. You've managed to make a November garden in the midwest look appealing.

    I, too, was on a cleaning binge leading up to Thanksgiving Day. I even cleaned out the laundry room cabinets...never know who might want to look in there. lol

    Sorry to hear you weren't feeling well. All better now, I hope.

    Hope your Thanksgiving was all that you deserve.

    donna

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  26. I hope you all had a good healthy Thanksgiving. And I hope you'll visit me for my third blogoversary giveaway!

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  27. Rosey, It took awhile, but I am doing much better--thanks!

    Dee, If this past year was any indication, I should have plenty of volunteers in the garden next season.

    Joy, They do look like skeletons, don't they? Only much prettier:) Thanksgiving went well, thank you.

    Joey, Thank you for the lovely thoughts. Sometimes we forget that there is beauty even at this time of year.

    Sarah, I'm doing better, thank you. I hope you got to see the Macy's parade!

    Rachel, The poofy remants of blooms do look kind of cool, I think.

    Sarah, Thank you for visiting!

    Donna, I started leaving the coneflower seedheads for the birds one year, and now I pretty much leave all the perennials, especially the natives. They give me something to look at during the winter and a reminder of the garden past. I hope no one looked in my closets:)

    Pat, Thank you, and yes, I did pop in for a visit. I seem to be behind once again in visiting everyone.

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  28. Hi, Rose!
    And, happy belated Thanksgiving. I hope you had a marvelous holiday, with plentiful side dishes and lots of yummy pumpkin pie.

    Love these pretty textures in your garden! :))

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