Dumbarton Gate

 Follow the creekside trail in Dumbarton Park, in Northwest DC and you will come to a set of steps. Climb up to the elegant gate and take in the view across the grounds of Dumbarton Oaks. Many years ago, guests at early spring garden parties would come down to this gate to enjoy the blooming forsythia, a corridor of yellow leading down to the creek. The forsythia still drape the walls, but in summer all is quiet and green.

Lichen Covered Bench

 Lichen are organisms that are a symbiotic combination of fungi, algae and yeasts.  We find them growing on stones, bricks, even other plants. This bench, nestled under a grove of trees, has been taken over by lichen. They look to me like flowers of peeling paint. But other lichens can form branches, threads or leaflike structures in a rainbow of colors. They can appear to be an entirely different color when wet as opposed to when they are dry. If you pass lichen on your regular walking route, be sure to stop and look at these mysterious organisms on both a dry day and a drizzly or rainy one.

Spent Fireworks

 It must have been a very noisy night for the residents of this block. I found the housings for fireworks clustered in driveways and along the edges of the street.  Dogs were surely cowering under beds wondering why the humans were making such a terrifying racket.  But on a sunny, stifling morning, silence was restored.

Fading Hydrangeas

It is late in the season for hydrangeas. They've all had a rough summer, enduring a hot dry spell that left them with drooping leaves and curled-up florets, begging to be watered.  Now the bright blossoms are fading to a pale sky blue, then each floret outlines itself in cream. As the blue drains from the petals, the balls take on shades of silver, cream and palest green. They offer a more subtle beauty at this stage. Soon their original summer sky hues will be just a memory.

 

Summer In the Pollinator Garden

 There are many communities where a garden such as this would not be allowed. Instead, tidy lawns and restrictions on the style of mailboxes are enforced.  But on this corner birds chortle and chirp as they perch on coneflowers and teasels. I hear the soft sound of their wings as they dart after insects. Butterflies alight briefly among the tall grasses that splay over the edge of the sidewalk. It may not satisfy some humans' needs for tidiness and order, but it's a little corner of heaven for pollinators.

Pink Yarrow

 Associated with healing as well as luck, yarrow has many folk names, including woundwort, staunchwound and nosebleed plant. It has a reputation as a love charm that goes back beyond Druid times. Look closely at yarrow and notice how the leaves spiral up around the stem like a staircase in a small room. The mass of tiny florets reject symmetry, acting as flat landing pads for the many winged pollinators that feed on it. For the rest of the summer, bees, butterflies, moths and beetles can find sustenance while I enjoy the show. 

We've Got The Blues

 This past week at the Quilt & Surface Design Symposium, Sandy Shelenberger mixed up two vats of indigo for her students. Before anything could be dyed, students chose a color or style of bead as their identification and sewed one to the corner of each piece of fabric. Then they began to pleat, stitch, gather, wrap and clamp. Soon, striking fabrics covered the design boards. The variety of patterning seemed almost endless, all in classic indigo blue.