In My Botanical Journal

Last week's pages: oat grass, dried hydrangea leaf and 'Nelly Stevens' holly.

 

This past October I started a new botanical journal after seeing two presentations on nature journals by artist Lara Call Gastinger. She did one presentation for our BASNCR chapter Zoom meeting and another at ASBA's annual conference. I'd tried doing nature journals on several occasions before, but somehow, after a few months, I'd get involved in other things; it became harder to find the time and interesting subjects for entries, and eventually I gave up on these altogether. 

 Lara's concept that one need not fill up every bit of space on a page, but come back to use the empty space in subsequent years, freed me to think of a nature journal in a different way. The idea is to establish calendar dates for each page, and simply do as much as one feels up to on those pages. With this in mind, I decided to attempt a nature journal again, and try to have fun with it instead of making it a chore.

So, every week I've been sketching a little of whatever plant material I find in my garden or during my walks or wanderings. At this time of the year much of what I find is dried leaves or seed pods, with the occasional evergreen, or plants from my indoor garden. Last week I drew a sprig of the 'Nelly Stevens' holly, a curled-up leaf from one of my hydrangeas, and oat grass, all from my garden.

 

Bearss lime flowers, Beautyberry (Callicarpa amaericana) and Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera sp.)

Generally I use pencil to do a very loose outline of the object first, then carefully draw it with more detail in ink before erasing the pencil guidelines underneath. The pencil scribbles help me to get the movement and proportions of the drawing more accurately. After the ink drawing is complete, watercolor pencils or a mixture of watercolor with watercolor pencils give it color. Notes about the plant with botanical name if possible, and occasionally notes on the pencil colors used finish up the entry.

On the previous week, I sketched blossoms of my Bearss lime tree wintering indoors, a tiny sprig of Beautyberry collected at Summerset (the site I visited for my painting of the historic property in Delaplane), and a flower from my Christmas cactus. The Christmas cactus produced four lovely flowers this year, and has a few more buds--last year the plant produced only two flowers.

 

Witch hazel flowers, Australian red finger lime, and Brassidium orchid flowers.

I try to draw the material life-size, and one of the challenges is how to arrange the sketches in the notebook pages attractively so that they flow across the pages. Using color to unify the two pages is one way to accomplish this, but the design still needs to be taken into account. Do I bring in a branch from the left or right side, coming from the top of the bottom of the page? To draw or not to draw across the fold? Each set of pages is different, that's where the fun comes in!

 

Fir tree sprig, cedar apple rust gall on Virginia juniper, Virginia pine cone.

I'll share more pages from my botanical journal in future posts throughout the coming year.

Summerset on Rose Hill

Summerset on Rose Hill, watercolor, 10"h x 14"w.

 

Recently I was contacted by a lady who had purchased my "Fabulous Franklinia" painting at Art at the Mill this fall. She had acquired a historic property about 20 minutes from where I live, is in the process of restoring it, and wanted me to document the house and buildings in a series of paintings before and after the restoration, as well as perhaps create a botanical journal to document the plants on the site.

The property records date back to the mid 1700's, although the house, Summerset on Rose Hill, was not built until later. The former owner, Mr. Norman Baker, purchased the property in 1961 and did a good deal of restoration in the 60-some years that he resided in it. He also wrote a book on the history of the entire area known as the Crooked Run Valley, which I'm in the process of reading. I'll post more about that and Summerset as I read on and learn more about it. And there will be more paintings of it, too.

My client made a date to meet at the property and show me around. We walked the site on a pleasant, sunny afternoon, and discussed which views she liked and thought merited paintings. We both took photos and agreed I'd start with a small watercolor of the ensemble of buildings as seen from a particular viewpoint she liked best.

I waited to find another afternoon when the weather was equally pleasant, and last Saturday the opportunity presented itself. I'd sketched the buildings and composition from my photo ahead of time, so I wouldn't lose time doing the preparatory pencil sketch on site. At this time of the year the window for getting the right light and shadows in the afternoon is about two hours, after that the sun begins to move away towards the tops of the hills, and the light fades.

With the aid of my photo, I was able to find the exact spot for this view when I walked up the driveway, and got started on the painting right away. I studied the shadows and marked them so that as they started to lengthen I would still have something as a guide. And of course, I took more photos. By about four o'clock, the sun was gone from the scene, and the chill of nightfall was starting to descend-- time to head home. The painting still had a ways to go to completion, but by then I had a very clear map to do so; with the aid of my photos, I finished the painting at home.

Buttonbush, VNPS 2022 Plant of the Year

Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), watercolor, 14"h x 10"w.

Here's my illustration of the Virginia Native Plant Society (VNPS) Plant of the Year for 2022--its common name is Buttonbush, the botanical name Cephalantus occidentalis. It's a shrub that can reach eight to ten feet in height and equal width, which loves wetlands. The "buttons" are actually clusters of tiny flowers arranged in a ball around. After the corollas and pistils fall, they leave behind seed pods which turn a reddish color and release their seeds in the fall. Many birds love to eat the seeds.

 It took many steps to achieve the final illustration you see above. I first sketched a flowering branch in my studio from material I collected in the field--it was much too hot to sketch outdoors for any length of time during the summer doldrums of July.

 

First pencil sketch, 10"h x 8"w

I waited until mid September to visit the plants again when they were setting seed--the seed pods turn a reddish brown color as they ripen, and I wanted to include this stage in my painting. At this time, the weather was a bit more conducive to outdoor sketching, so my next sketch was done on site on a very small sketchbook (my photo of it is awful, apologies).

 

Buttonbush seed pod sketch, 7"h x 5"w

Next I had to figure out how to combine the two sketches to create a composition that would show both stages. The problem was that the sketches were of different sizes--to save time I scanned both sketches, increasing the size of the seed pod sketch and decreasing somewhat the size of the sketch of the flowers and buds, until I had both drawings at similar size. Then I combined the sketches, making some corrections, and inked the drawing for tracing.

 

Ink drawing for tracing.

After tracing my drawing onto the watercolor paper, I was ready to start painting. I started with the flowers and buds, added a few leaves, then put some color on the seed pods and more leaves. As usual, I forgot to take more early and in-between photos of my progress, but here is what I managed to document.

 

Buttonbush - stage 1

Buttonbush - stage 2

Buttonbush - stage 3

I'm looking forward to seeing the brochure that will be published by VNPS with my illustration and our botanist's remarks.

November Colors

November colors in my back yard.

Many leaves have fallen, but there's still a lot of color in the woods in back of my house: the oaks have reached their peak. Soon my neighbor's farm buildings will become visible through the woods, after the leaves have come down.

On the east side of the house, the Japanese maples are still holding on to most of their leaves, despite heavy hoarfrost on several mornings. I've fenced off my Rhododendron, azaleas, and other young trees for winter protection from the marauding deer. I still have a couple of new plants--last minute purchases on sale--to get in the ground.

East yard in mid-November

The ornamental kale looked particularly lovely with frost on its leaves. So did the bed on the west front by the garage.

 

Morning frost on ornamental kale.

Hoarfrost on the western front.

 

As the temperature begins to drop in earnest, and it becomes less comfortable being outside, it's time to finish my chores and put the garden to sleep. This week I harvested all the romaine lettuce except for two small heads, protected overnight by frost-proof cloth. All of the tender houseplants have been brought inside for the winter.

Plants in the bathroom.

Meanwhile, one of my orchids around the bathtub is blooming once more, along with some African violets. I haven't been able to coax any flowers from the Cattleya mounted above yet, although it seems to be happy there. Perhaps a clip-on light would help?

Now that I'm spending more time indoors, I've been working on new project--a perpetual Nature Journal. Started last month, the idea is to do a few sketches every week on two pages of the journal on year one. Then, on subsequent years, add a few more sketches on those weeks until the journal is all filled up.

 Some weeks I have interesting material to work with on hand, collected from my wanderings; other weeks, I struggle to find something of interest to bring home from my walks around the area. Here are some pages from my journal.

 

The small set of half-pans holding open some of the pages is brand-new set of some very expensive hand-made watercolor paints from Greenleaf and Blueberry, which I've been using on the journal, along with my Faber Castell watercolor pencils and waterbrush. I love this tiny new set--I can carry it in one pocket with the waterbrush and a 5" x 7" sketchpad when I go out on my walks to Blandy Farm or other places nearby, eliminating the need for a tote bag or backpack. Traveling light is essential!

 

Plant material collection.

Sunrise over our neighborhood.

The sunrise on a recent morning was spectacular--the sky was on fire, the mountains veiled in fog. Sailors take warning!

Frosty Morning

Full-moon Japanese maple 'Shirasawanum'.

Japanese maple

Last night the thermometer dipped into the twenties. When I got up in the morning and looked out the window, I saw that Jack Frost had painted a scene of fantastic beauty outside! Looking out over the east side of the house, the tops of the three Japanese maples shimmered in the early morning sun, making such a lovely sight, I couldn't resist going out to record it with my camera before it all vanished!

The hoarfrost had outlined every leaf and blade of grass, turning each tree and shrub into a work of art: the Japanese maples, the hollies, the grasses, even the mulch!

 

Berry Poppins hollies.

Japanese maple 'Bloodgood'

Going into the back yard, in the Little Indians bed, the 'Bartzella' peony and the purple Chrysanthemums, with the catmint behind, created a beautiful array of subdued colors and shapes.

Peony 'Bartzella' with mums.

Dried flowerheads of Swamp sunflowers.

Even the seedheads of the Swamp sunflowers were artistic, outlined with ice crystals. The Bottlebrush Buckeye tree with its yellowing leaves was a wondrous sight, as was the Beautyberry 'Early Amethyst' with its small purple berry clusters.

Bottlebrush Buckeye

Beautyberry shrub

 

The just-planted lamb's ear's furry leaves were heavily coated with ice. The Fothergilla's leaves, just starting to turn, next to the frozen aromatic asters, were another study in subtle shades.

 

Lamb's ears leaves.

Fothergilla with aromatic asters in front.

Walking around toward the west side of the house, the berries of Viburnum 'Cardinal Candy' looked like they might be special seasonal decorations. The Japanese maple 'Amber Ghost' and even the fallen leaves on the grass were gorgeous!

 

Viburnum 'Cardinal Candy'

Fallen leaves

Japanese maple 'Amber Ghost'

In the front yard, the dainty leaves of the 'Princess' holly looked like another classic winter decoration. The sprigs of red barberry 'Admiral,' next to the gray-blue foliage of lavender, another work of art! I could go on, but I'm repeating myself, so I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.

'Princess' holly

Barberry 'Admiral'

Diervilla 'Kodiak Black' and oat grass.

Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and Itea 'Little Henry'

Before the First Frost

Viburnum 'Cardinal Candy' with witchhazel.

The back yard from the west side.

 

On Halloween day the fall foliage was at its most colorful. We haven't had our first frost yet, though it's announced for tonight, so I took the opportunity to take these photos of my garden just before the plants get cut back by the frost. We've had a few storms with a lot of wind lately--the most recent casualty was the iron hoop arbor that held up the honeysuckle 'Major Wheeler,' which blew down.

 

Fallen arbor with 'Major Wheeler' honeysuckle

The structure had been weakened earlier; I noticed that the vine's expanding trunk had pulled out one of the bolts during the early summer, and the storm that brought down our old oak bent it further. The storm last week was the final straw. It's such a tangle, I'll have to prune back most of the honeysuckle vine to remove the iron armature, and then figure out some way of propping up the vine to let it grow once again. This is one of the hummingbird's favorites, so I hope the drastic pruning won't affect next year's blooms.

Viburnum 'Brandywine'

 

Both of my cultivar Viburnums have showy berries and fall foliage: the berries of 'Brandywine' have changed from the soft pink of early fall to blue-black, as its leaves turn a lovely red-orange. My Viburnum 'Cardinal Candy,' which bloomed for the first time this year, is covered with red berries. I wonder what color the foliage will be when it starts to turn?

White lilac blooming

The unseasonably warm and wet weather has fooled the white lilac into blooming--I purchased this one as a named cultivar 'Primrose' and it has turned out to be a rather odd white-blooming one, rather than the pale yellow I was supposed to get. I wonder if the unseasonable blooms are part of this plant's mixed genetic make-up or just a fluke?

Salvia 'Windwalker Royal Red'

The perennial red Salvia I planted this past spring didn't start blooming until very late in the year, and is only now reaching its peak of bloom. It's a bit floppy, but what a gorgeous flower color! I should prune it back before blooming time next year, to see if the flowers will stay more upright.

 

Back corner of the yard from Herb's bed.

 

The northeast corner of the back yard is looking very colorful right now, with the Amsonia leaves turning my flower bed gold, to match the hickories and oaks in the woods. The Kousa dogwood is showing beautiful colors too.

Kousa dogwood.

The Front garden, west side.

Of course, this posting wouldn't be complete without this year's jack o'lantern: Happy Halloween!