This year I have a plan. Instead of fighting the loss of summer I am celebrating the beauty of autumn. I know that comes naturally to many of you, and I’ll admit I’m a touch jealous. I want to be the person who is happy in the moment. Not looking back, or rushing into the future, but living in the now. So in addition to buying a new pair of boots and a couple fabulous sweaters (oh and scarves, we must have scarves) I’m finding new ways to enjoy my garden. Can’t spend the afternoons working in the garden? Then I’ll find a way to bring some of those plants into the house.
I’ve always loved these wild twig wreaths, they look like if you spin them fast enough they’ll whirl right up in to the sky. I finally splurged on one and decided to gussy it up a bit with things from the garden.
Well, not everything came from the garden. I’ve had a vase of dried teasel (Dipsacus) sitting on my desk forever and thought I’d work a couple into the design.
A few hydrangea blossoms (from the neighbor’s plants along our driveway), mix well with cuttings from my Echeveria nodulosa and Senecio mandraliscae.
And maybe some leaves from the Quercus dentata ‘Pinnatifida’?
Short on berries I decided to cut some seed pods from the Ricinus communis.
Wanting to see the wreath at the angle it will hang, I decided to put it up on the door before working in the Graptopetalum paraguayense. Truth be told they’re just sort of tucked in rather than wired in place like the other elements.
A few more of each cutting/bloom/leaf was added and here we have the finished product…
The dried teasel was joined by a few a few Colutea pods.
I’ve been keeping a watchful eye on the Ricinus seed pods, the ones outside are drying up and spitting their extremely poisonous seeds around the garden. Obviously I don’t want that to happen indoors where Lila (our dog) might be tempted to taste one (the door is open most days, so she can keep an eye on the neighborhood and I can enjoy the wreath inside).
It’s been up for a few weeks now and everything still looks fresh, but I’m already scheming on the next adaptation – maybe one with more traditional autumn colors, or ornamental cabbage and kale. After all there’s still a lot of autumn left to embrace.
