Towers of flowers
April 25, 2008
I noticed tower shapes in the garden yesterday morning. The Texas betony (Stachys coccinea ) echoes the form of the blue bottle tree, only in red.
This majestic sage (Salvia guaranitica ) resembles the bottle tree tilted to a 45-degree angle.
Like miniature towers, the buds of heartleaf skullcap (Scutellaria ovata ) rise above fuzzy, oily leaves. The little hairs give them a silvery sheen. Soon the buds will open into lavender spires.
Tower-flower power!
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
What a great observation. It’s wonderful shapes echo others to really make things come together.
It was just chance that I noticed the similarity. The Texas betony normally stays low to the ground, but this one had used a nearby trellis to grow much taller than normal. That’s when the tower shapes caught my eye. —Pam
Very clever how the Texas betony echoes the form of the bottle tree and the sage, its color. I find that photographs often reveal patterns in our design that we put in unconsciously. Don’t you?
Yes, that’s true. But in this case I consciously shot the betony and bottle tree together to highlight the shape echo that I’d already noticed. So sometimes the eye catches a pattern or echo first, and you can use the camera to zoom in on it. —Pam
perhaps you were unconsciously creating a flower shape with the bottle tree sculpture.
I think of it as a fir-tree shape most of the time. Or a child’s drawing of a Christmas tree. But it does look like a flower today. —Pam
I especially like the first photo! Tower-Flower-Power indeed!
I like that one too, Nancy. The betony is a living echo of the bottle tree. If only it were blue! —Pam
Yes…I know you framed the photograph consciously. But you didn’t plant the betony because of the bottle tree or vice versa did you? My point was that when we frame our garden through the camera lens we see things we might not see if we were just walking through the garden. When we take a picture, we create compositions that we might not have originally envisioned. At least sometimes.
I think we’re saying the same thing but approaching it from opposite sides. You’re right—I did not plant the betony to echo the bottle tree. Rather, I noticed the betony echoing the bottle tree one day when I was working in the garden. At that time I made a mental note to go back and photograph what I’d seen. So from my perspective, the camera lens did not help me to see this combination. It was merely the tool I used to record it for you. However, I have noticed that framing photos often does, as you say, help you to see in a way you might not with the naked eye.
Isn’t it fun to blog about gardening so we can have these kinds of discussions? —Pam
You have a terrific eye for detail. I am so glad you identified the Texas betony, it is a lovely color and nicely contrasts the cobalt blue. Was the betony in an earlier post?
Gail
Oh yes, I post about it frequently. Just use the white Search box in my sidebar to look for posts about it. —Pam
I do believe you were having blue bottle tree dreams. :-)~~Dee
I think you might be right, Dee. —Pam
I love the Betony and that gorgeous blue salvia. Those fuzzy leaves of the heartleaf skullcap make me want to reach out and touch them 🙂
Neat comparisons Pam!
I wish you could touch the skullcap leaves, Kerri. They’re both fuzzy and oily—a unique combination. —Pam
Your sages and heartleaf skullcap are way ahead of mine! At least I’ll have something to look forward to when the roses stop blooming. 🙂
How come I never have these happy design accidents? I’m with Melissa, I think you did it unconsciously. :^)