Valerian

Sometimes I take a picture and because I'm so focused on the actual subject I want to photograph, I miss the surroundings which of course also make it onto the photo. It's really surprising what your eye can miss. This was such an occasion and fortunately the camera lens did catch it and I've ended it with this wonderful picture which I would not have liked to miss.

I was trying to catch this plant which actually is common valerian but I first saw it in a garden we visited last year, was totally bowled over by the great sways featuring this plant and decided we had to have it and without consulting John (who was enjoying a cup of tea + scone) I went ahead and bought a plant. He really was horrified when he realised what I had been up to (he knows more about wild flowers than I, thanks to his mother) and told me this plant was going to spread and spread and would probably end up taking over our entire garden.

On our way home from that trip John had a lot of fun showing me the plants again, this time in the road verge where I could have stopped and dug one up for free!!

No matter, I still love the look of it and we planted it by the wall in our front bed where I can see it from the kitchen window and it has done me the pleasure of coming up and looking great. But I have already seen the seeds flying away in the wind! It's going to be really fascinating to see where we will find the offspring next year.

I give a talk entitled Colour and Texture (on quilts, of course!) and this is simply an amazing picture combining both visual and actual texture exquisitely!