Last season, my botanical art was strictly about pressed foliage. Going forward, I plan to continue to exand my exploration of the design possibilities my shade garden plants present. Lately, though, I succumbed to the temptation to begin incorporating some flowers as well. I think it all started when I became impassioned about saving my blizzard-damaged Andromeda. Following the advice of a master gardener, we waited until Spring to see if our listing tree would upright itself naturally. That didn’t happen, so we’ve moved to plan B — removing about 1/3 of the plant to lighten the load and make it possible for us to force the tree into an upright position. In the midst of all of this our Andromeda went on as if nothing had happened. By the time we pruned, we were removing brances laden with snowy clusters in full bloom as well as some still in bud stages. I chose a sampling to process in order to make my latest pressed botanical.
As I said in my last post, I’m thinking of incorporating flowers into my botanical art for the first time. There’s so much beauty in foliage that I never saw the need, but I couldn’t resist using these roses this week.
So yesterday I went in one direction and today in another with a different look but an equally nostalgic result. Next we’ll go to a black background and see what feels different. Manwhile, my fallen but not uprooted Andromeda is in full bloom so I have some drupes of flowers in process. They should be ready soon.
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.
I finally got a chance to create a graphic for the vibrant fern I found still growing in my Stonington Garden. I’ve lost count of the number of snowstorms we’ve had this year, but the fact that this was still plump and green in March — and with a double tip to boot — was quite a happy surprise. I kept it simple with a little miniature ivy ‘bow’ at the base and a faux mat fashioned with graphics alone. (The outer mat is real of course)
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.
Let’s face it, most gardening is a war against chaos. Maybe that’s why I sometimes have fun creating virtual files as the support for my botanical art. For this one I created colorful compartments for Azaleas (on the left) which I enhanced with a touch of turquoise, ferns at the bottom with a ‘button’ of variegated Euonymus, Parlor Palm as the centerpiece and some inner leaves of Euonymus at the top. If only it would all line up so obediently in my garden.
Like most of what I post here, it will pop up matted and framed in my Etsy shop soon.
While I’m in the mood to organize I’ve lined up some of my winter azalea leaves. I love their little apostrophe shapes. For a little extra interest I’ve added just a touch of pastel color at the stem end of each leaf. While I’m busy de-constructing my plants, buds are forming and my azalea will be in full vibrant bloom in just a couple of months. I’m already working on a companion piece for this one which I’ll put in my shop as soon as it’s ready.
After playing with wave and color effects, I was reminded of the sea so I checked my inventory of dried plants and selected dill as the main plant. To this I added a few curving fern leaflets and a ‘school’ of azalea leaves. My husband was reminded of winter instead because he thought the ‘bubbles’ looked like snow. That’s the beauty of fantasy. Everyone creates his or her own.
Meanwhile, I think I’ll pay more attention to my husband’s herb garden next season.
My Stonington Garden 
