I have the tools, but not the patience (or, dare I say it?) time left to cultivate true bonsai. Maybe none of us has. However I must concede that Jade Plant gives us the option of faking it because of the gnarled and easily manipulated trunks on even the youngest plants. Still, painting a bonsai takes less time and discipline. What’s more, any damage resulting from my less-than-green thumb is already done.
I always use my own plants to make my botanical art — well, almost always. I received these lovely little roses as a hostess gift a few weeks ago. Rather than waiting for them to fade, I dried some in silica gel and arranged them in a lovely little vase. I disassembled the rest and pressed them. When the time came to design a background for the first of them, I couldn’t resist my natural sentimentality. It is spring. These are roses. Love is in the air. Why not? Since I tend to go back and forth between my traditional and modern compositions the next rose collage you see may not be as sweet but it will still be as rosy. Did I really write that?
Anyway, you can find this and dozens more in my Etsy shop.
Just when I thought my supply of pressed ferns from last year’s garden was finally depleted, I was walking the perimeter of my little property and found these brave winter survivors hiding under a hydragea. They were thriving there and none the worse for wear despite all the snow that fell in Stonington this winter. I could hardly wait the two weeks it took to get them prepared for a botanical collage. I have more waiting in the wings so watch for more in the coming days. In order to enhance their visibility against the ‘night’ sky, I mounted three of them with the lighter back of the frond showing. To see more of this growing body of pressed botanical work, click here.
Gardening doesn’t come to a halt just because snow covers the ground. I have houseplants that stay indoors year round but not many. Most of them summer on my deck. I gave my parlor palm a little pruning several weeks ago with a selfish motive in mind. Here is the first result. I have several more fronds in process, but the plant continues to flourish so it’s win-win during the dormant season.
See more in my Etsy shop, My Stonington Garden.
P.S. The little guy at the bottom of this piece is a snippet from my Andromeda tree which is still lying on its side having been felled by the blizzard of ’13. A master gardener from the University of Rhode Island has advised that I wait until spring and hope it springs back. Fingers crossed.
My Stonington Garden 
