Readers of this blog know I am ambivalent about buying cut flowers. On the one hand, you're paying money for something that won't last. On the other hand, they are psychologically beneficial and can last pretty long for what you pay for them. So, when I was contacted over a week ago by someone from [...]
Flowers on the Brain
Cut Flowers Are a Frugal Luxury
February 14, 2010 – Posted in: Book reviews, Flowers on the BrainI had long considered flowers from a florist to be a frivolous expense. You couldn't plant them, and had nothing to show for it when they finally shriveled up and died. Spend the same amount on groceries, and at least you've fed your family, even if it still seems like you've got nothing to show [...]
Ellis Hollow Calendar Will Inspire Your Gardening
December 21, 2009 – Posted in: Flowers on the BrainAfter I had posted about Katinka Matson's digital flower scans, I tried it myself and so did several other garden bloggers. But, to the best of my knowledge, Craig Cramer of Ellis Hollow is the only one who, month after month, scans what's blooming in his garden for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Craig has created [...]
Why I Garden
November 24, 2009 – Posted in: Featured, Flowers on the Brain, MeditationsWhy do I garden? Why does an artist paint? Why does a pianist spend days practicing for an hour long concert? The truth is, I don't know why I garden. I don't know why I have an affinity for plants, a need to see them thrive, a hungering for their beauty. As a child, I [...]
A Good Year for Witch Hazels
October 20, 2009 – Posted in: Flowers on the Brain, Native/Invasive, What's up/bloomingIt is a family tradition to walk up the hill and into the woods this time of year to seek out the witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) blossoms. This is a native shrub or small tree that prefers moist, acidic soil--which we have in abundance. This is a plant that has romantic connotations for me. (Narcissus [...]
The 2009 GWA Symposium in Raleigh, NC: A Yankee’s Waking Dream
October 2, 2009 – Posted in: Flowers on the Brain, Plant infoI don't travel much. As a matter of fact, all the flying I've done in my adult life has been because of blogging, and all my flights have been to much warmer climates than my own. Every time I've left my home turf, I've found the experience a little unreal. Unmoored from my usual routine, [...]
Lauren’s Grape Poppy and Dark Towers Penstemon
August 9, 2009 – Posted in: Flowers on the Brain, What's up/bloomingOn July 26, 2009, I walked outside and saw a sight that made me gasp and clasp my hands over my heart. It was one of those moments where you thank God you have the privilege of gardening on this piece of earth, and that you listened to that inner prompt that said, "Sprinkle those [...]
Passalong, heirloom, and cottage garden plants
June 3, 2007 – Posted in: Flowers on the BrainI suppose there exists, somewhere on this planet, an ornamental gardener who has never grown a plant that they had been given from someone else's garden, but it is hard for me to imagine it. Before I even knew myself to be a gardener, when I was just a kid, I tagged along behind the [...]
Scanned snowdrops
April 12, 2007 – Posted in: Flowers on the BrainMany people who commented on the Katinka Matson post encouraged me to try the technique of obtaining images of flowers by scanning them with a flatbed scanner (an HP Scanjet 2400) myself. So I did. Even though it remains cold and we get some flurries every day, the snowdrops are slowly going over. Many of [...]
Katinka Matson: A new twist on botanical images
April 5, 2007 – Posted in: Flowers on the BrainKatinka Matson does not photograph flowers--she scans them. I don't know how she manages to not flatten them, or how she gets a black background, but they look almost three dimensional, and the colors are exceptionally vibrant. Besides the front page, check out the artist's bio page (which has an explanation of her technique) and [...]
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