Walking through the Laguna in winter might seem to be bare and boring, but it is anything but. Sure, there is not much flowering or full of lush green leaves. The beauty is more subtle and no everybody may recognize or acknowledge it.
The common Queen Anne's lace - Daucus carota - is a plant that delights in summer with it's lacelike tiny flowers that attracts many insects. But in winter it looks very different.
It's just a "skeleton" that remains but that bare shape is still beautiful and can enchant the landscape. Even though it's gray and can blend into its environment, if you look closely you note its fine features.
Isn't it beautiful?
Queen Anne's lace has many different names - wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace - and not everybody loves this wildflower. In some US states like Iowa, Ohio, Michigan and Washington it is listed as a noxious weed. But here in the Laguna on a chilly winter day I am delighted by its subtle beauty.
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As of early this morning local time, Russia has started invading Ukraine, a sovereign, independent, democratic country. Up to this morning I had hoped that this could have been prevented - hope dies last. I feel a wild mix of emotions - grief, fear, fury, worry. I look at Ukraine not as a US citizen but as a European who loves this beautiful continent and who is devastated about a war in the center of it.
I think skeletal flowers like Queen's Anne lace are just as beautiful as when they are in flower. It's just different. And it adds great details to a winter landscape, plus I am sure it feeds some kind of creature. (or 2). I am very saddened by this attack on Ukraine too. It is scary that in this day and age someone who is such an autocrat can actually do this. You also asked when you commented on my blog whether the school Japan traveled to the US. Yes, they did come. They visited every fall with a small group of students and then we sent a small group in the fall. It was (pre-covid) a very positive relationship. Hugs-Erika
ReplyDeleteIt is heartbreaking Carola. I can't believe it is happening. I had had hope too but now......
ReplyDeleteI, too, admire and photograph the wild dry skeletons of Queen Anne's Lace. It's beautiful in all seasons. My heart breaks for the Ukrainian people. My family settled there for many generations before coming to Canada.
ReplyDeleteLiebe Carola, ich bewundere die vertrockneten Schönheiten auch immer sehr. Sie sind etwas ganz Besonderes. Was die Ukraine betrifft- es macht mich fassungslos. Ich habe geglaubt, das hätten wir hinter uns.
ReplyDeleteLG
Magdalena
I see a lot of Queen Anne's lace at the cottage and I love it. It's odd -- and you bring it up here -- all the stages are remarkably beautiful in different ways. I love the bloom -- and when they begin to shrivel up at the end of season. This is really rather beautiful, the stark heads and the detail. Beautiful images, all.
ReplyDeleteI love Queen Anne's Lace. It blooms here in May and early June but is long gone, seeds and stems, before the end of summer.
ReplyDeleteI've always loved the Queen Ann's Lace when it's in bloom. But you took some very nice photos of it in Winter. It's interesting to see it bare before it's full and flowering. It's so cold here today, 17 degrees, and just trying to stay warm inside. So sad what happening right now in the world. Your photos exude some beauty for us so we can see there still is goodness.
ReplyDelete~Sheri
*some of my favorite See's candies are coffee, rum nougat, caramel, peanut butter, butterscotch square - I have many, and Oh, how I love See's. : )
The invasion of Ukraine is quite terrifying. I feel as if the world has been waiting decades for Russia to start a war -- first the Soviet Union, then Russia alone. And now it is happening and no one can figure out what to do. Can it be the spark that starts another global war?
ReplyDeletebest... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
You are absolutely correct in posting that Queen Anne's lace is considered an invasive plant (weed) in many areas, but it has a unique beauty when in bloom and even when not. I was always fond of the weeds we had in our VA yard, which were just misunderstood wildflowers. The situation in Ukraine is disheartening, but I suspect the country will prove surprisingly resilient.
ReplyDeleteFor years after my husband died I walked the same route nearly daily along a little creek nearby, where there were wide swaths of Queen Anne's Lace blooming and blooming for many months. Then they became skeletons, and the fennel plants growing nearby became skeletons, and the spiders would make webs...
ReplyDeleteAs you have displayed, they are forever fascinating and photogenic! I appreciate this post very much, partly because after the fires the maintenance workers started shearing the creek banks frequently, and now there are only a few plants of either species when I walk that way. I was flummoxed the first time I came upon the disaster. Of course, I understand.