Queen Anne's Lace - Lin Frye

Queen Anne's Lace, a photo by linfrye on Flickr.

140 Arches CP
Watercolor

BRRR ..... the mornings these days are downright nippy and both mornings and evenings require a light jacket. Yet by noon, temps have risen to the mid 70s and low 80s - but somehow the sun is not quite as hot as it was a month ago - even at these temperatures.

In drives around the countryside, more and more fields have turned to bright yellow - golden rod and tickseeds have taken over. Dogwoods are almost entirely crimson and tulip tree and sycamore leaves dot the ground. These longer, cooler nights have certain been working their magic on bringing color to the landscape!

I spot a few remaining Queen Anne's Lace - but most of these are now brown and heavy with seed. I've been seed-collecting these past weeks, and it's time now to begin my annual 'seed-strewing. Blanket flower, purple cone flower, Queen Anne's Lace, poppy seeds - all will be randomly mixed and scattered over bare and new ground for next year's blooming. Because our fall weather is still considerably warm, many of the biennial seeds - like purple cone flower and Queen Anne's Lace - will germinate and grow a basal rosette before first frost, die back a bit, and then resume growth in the spring and flower. By planting these seeds in the fall, at least in my mild-winter climate, I can 'fool' these plants into blooming their first spring.

Hope you have a great week!

Lin Frye
North Carolina