Serendib Garden

Kavi laughed when she saw me taking this pic, but c’mon, how could I resist? Also, Fentiman’s rose lemonade is delicious.

Native butterflyweed, just starting to open.

Pretty sure this is pale purple coneflower, echinacea pallida, another native. It’s very droopy. 🙂

Native annual fleabane. Not anything I planted, and it tends to spread a little aggressively, but it’s also easy to pull if it’s bugging you, so I’m happy to have some around. I tried pressing some — it came out okay, but I wonder if doing a microwave press first might preserve the color more.

Mallows — zebrina is the striped one, and native purple poppy mallow / wine-cups is the solid. They both press beautifully; I’m curious to see how they do in desiccant.

Feverfew. A volunteer in my garden, but one I’m always happy to see. This is a very long-lasting cut flower — it lasts for weeks in a vase. The centers get a little brown over time, but it still looks charming. It doesn’t dry well pressed in a book — it just gets shriveled and

Clematis Piilu. I cut it down a lot last year, don’t remember why! Possibly just a mistake. It blooms double on 2nd-year stems, but I guess I just get single flowers this year. They’re still lovely.

The native wine-cups are out — this is one of my favorite native flowers. It also presses beautifully, turning a rich dark purple. Pictured here with my writing shed, and clematis piilu.