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The garden is constantly teaching us lessons about the circle of life, birth, death, renewal. At this time of year, gardeners in the northern hemisphere find themselves in the middle of winter. A few days ago, a voice from the T.V. said that we'd gained 45 minutes of daylight since the solstice.
The garden is coming back to life with all sorts of winter blooms and newly emerging foliage. Due to my laziness, there are still a lot of corpses lying around in various stages of decay. Plant corpses. What were you thinking? The large ornamental grasses are providing interest and won't get cut down quite yet and in these pictures skeletonized leaves of Acanthus sennii decorate the lawn. I've got to figure out a way to use these in a vase or wreath sometime. Ideas? Aren't they nifty. They remain fairly flexible while still moist.
Love skeletonized leaves! Do you have a scanner? Would love to see these up-close!
ReplyDeleteI do have a scanner and played with autumn leaf scans a few years ago but never thought of scanning these. Thanks for the idea, I'll do it!
DeleteThe skeletonized leaf is beautiful. My garden is full of corpses too.
ReplyDeleteOh the vision that popped into my head with that comment!
DeleteAs long as we remember where the bodies are hidden...
DeleteLovely leaves. I like the other-way-round thought best. The glass is half full, at least. :)
ReplyDeleteOr half alive.
DeleteWhen corpses look like that, I cherish their presence. Beautiful - you definitely need to put them to good use. I think they would make a great Halloween garland.
ReplyDeleteGood idea! Now, if I can both store them somewhere (not a problem) and remember where I put them when I want them in the fall we'll be in business!
DeleteI look forward to seeing what you choose to create with your beautiful leaf skeletons!
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that metallic spray paint may be involved.
DeleteThere must be something about those Acanthus leaves that lend themselves to nice skeletonization - I have a few too. Love them!
ReplyDeletekind of like some of the deciduous magnolias that do the same thing. Wonder what it is?
DeleteDry them flat and scatter across a table. Or insert a thin wire to make a stem so you can arrange them in a vase with other etheral things.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas! Thanks!
DeleteI wonder if there is an art supply spray that could preserve this leaf and make it less vulnerable to breaking. Or just leave this lovely corps right where it is to continue the circle of life. I also leave dry grass as long as possible; Unless there is a vicious wind storm late in the season, they have great staying power.
ReplyDeleteI saved a bunch in the greenhouse last year. No treatment and they're still looking fine but the edges are spiky so they get moved out of the way a lot.
Deletelove these leaves
ReplyDeleteI'm glad as I think they're pretty nifty, too.
DeleteThat leaf is way too cool !
DeleteMy vignette is skeletal this time too. I used up my supply of A. sennii ghosts on gift wrapping this year. Can't wait to see what you do with yours.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this post. This is my first winter with an Acanthus sennii, and I had no idea about this. I just went out and found a few similar leaves. Without you post to guide me, I might have entirely missed these fabulous skeletons in the devil garden, and what a shame that would have been. By the way, after your reassurance, I left the spent C. giganteum stalk (alien sky eaters) in place this winter, and sure enough, two bulblets are already sprouting right next to it. So it looks like I'll be having the best of both worlds this year.
ReplyDeleteI have lots of corpses in my garden. Digging holes is such a drag. ;o)Love your positive take on the inevitable.
ReplyDeleteGood post! Fun to read, lovely to look at. Those skeletons are another of nature's little wonders.
ReplyDeleteLove these! They're beautiful as is in your photos, but they'd also be great scanned, as suggested, or in a vase arrangement. Happy signs of spring!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever seen skeletonized leaves like these down my way. Maybe something in the climate up there plays a role - or maybe I'm just too quick to clean up around the garden and thereby miss out on some of the garden's beauty.
ReplyDelete