Saturday 25 September 2010

A surfeit of seedheads!

I've had another round of walks around my local nature reserve on the outskirts of Frome. Here's a link to our website if you have time for a quick look. I was in the mood for some macros, although not all these were taken with my macro lens. I also used my 70-300ml lens. As I walked around, nature's way of preparing for the following year was most obvious. So, this particular post is saturated with seeds and seedheads! (-:
Ash Keys
I'm not sure what this flower is, but I loved the rich gold colour of the seeds.
The Purple Loosetrife has now faded from it's vivid colour of summer to this more muted and soft pink/brown.

Rosebay Willowherb, often called Fireweed as it quickly colonises ground cleared by fire.
The seedheads split to reveal the plumed seeds.
This is some sort of Thistle or Knapweed seedhead, maybe someone out there can tell me which? The early morning dew is clinging to the fluffy seeds.
This below is some sort of Sorrel. It never fails to make a russet show at this time of year.
A close up of the seeds.

More Thistle type seedheads.
A lovely graceful grass with the early morning light shining through.
The bold seeds of Yellow flag iris.

The next two shots are specially for my friend Evie as I know they're one of her favourites! (-:
Teasel makes up for being somewhat insignificant looking during it's flowering period with it's beautiful (and bountiful for birds) seedheads which stand out during autumn and winter.
The next couple of posts will show what else I saw whilst walking around the reserve.

8 comments:

The Giraffe Head Tree said...

Your surfeit of seedheads is a splendiferous surprise! Ash seeds, or "keys," are my favorites with which to play during autumn. Fingering their delicate beauty while sipping my merlot each afternoon during the "Golden Tree Hour" is a fond memory on our deck at the lake. The textures and colors and raw beauty of each shot here brings me to tears, Jens. "Bold Seeds, indeed, of the yellow flag iris. Bold seeds. What a choice description. More! More!

Anonymous said...

Lovely post Jen,
very representative of the present time.

Dog Trot Farm said...

Jenny, only you can make a weed look so beautiful, your picture's never disappoint. Now please tell me do you not have canned pumpkin in England? Is the climate to wet and cold to grow pumpkins there? Just curious.

Jenny said...

Hi Debs, thanks for that, I'm not normally that good with words, but sometimes it pops out! (-:

Hi Roy, thanks.

Hi Julie, I really don't believe we have canned Pumpkin over here. I'll have to ask next time I'm in my local supermarket. I guess they must be grown here somewhere cos we do have a few nowadays in the supermarkets around Halloween time. That has never really been a big thing over here until more recently.

Kelly said...

...these are beautiful. It is amazing how much beauty can be found in spent seed heads when you slow down to look. I also love the shot of the spiderweb...gorgeous. Autumn is just starting to show up here; Mama Nature keeps us marching along!

Jenny said...

Hi Kelly, yes, I happened to be in the mood for slowly taking in what was around me. So often, I'm concentrating on bird sights and sounds. Doing this blog has made me look around me in a totally different way.

Eve said...

I knew, when I saw the first hint of the late season, that I would be seeing some of that most favored plant of mine!! Thanks Jenny Wren! I too love the look and description of the bold Yellow Flag seeds! They look like little packages perfectly stowed in a case! Love the dew and the cool feeling I get looking at your post! Very nice! Thanks Jenny!

Quiet Paths said...

Seeds are distributed in such different ways; amazing. We have a lot of teasel at the bison range.