Pictures of my garden in mid September, 2011

 Pineapple Sage Bloom

    Hanging bird bath

  Pineapple Sage

 Bird house from the Outer Banks 

 Pineapple Sage 

Clematis Vine

This year my Clematis Vine has really put on a show.  Maybe it was the exceptionally cold winter that made the blooms so beautiful. 

The blooms measure 7 1/4 inches wide. 

As typical in spring, the storms roll in and bring rain to the garden.  A little less "stormy" would be nice but we can't control Mother Nature.  So I'll take whatever rain I can get because the newly emerging garden needs rain. 

Below are pictures I took this morning after the storm.

Sedum Bieboldii and Rumex Sanguineus ssp. Sanguineus - bettern known as Bloody Sorrel

Pincushion and Lemon Thyme

Saxifraga and Sedum

View of my yard

Well... I don't have a dog named Toto (my 10-year-old dachshund's name is Griffin), and I have never traveled to Oz though it's on my bucket list.  The Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, and the Tin Man are not (yet) in my circle of friends.  This time of year, the movie, The Wizard of Oz, reminds me of autumn and with this season comes beautiful foliage-and I need leaves!

I'm always inspired to paint my leaves during autumn to capture the full palette of rich, bold red, gold, oange, yellow, brown, and green hues.

I'm working on a new project: small leaves to hang from tree branches.  I hope to have pictures of them on my website soon.

Butterfly Weed

Creeping Jenny and Gold Acre Sedum mixed

Basket of Purple Violas

My dog Griffin peeking through my Ligustrum

Every once in a while, I stumble across something quite unexpected, and that's what happened with my newest leaf.

I took a leaf from my Alocasia Macrorrhiza, better known as an Upright Elephant Ear, and made a flat, leaf cast measuring 27 1/2 inches by 18 1/2 inches - my biggest leaf so far.  For extra support, I put wire screen between the two layers of cement.

Once the leaf was cast, I let it cure for several weeks and kept it slightly moist by spraying it with water several times a day. (I do this for all my leaves to help them cure slowly which add strength and prevents breakage)

When I was sure the leaf was completely dry, I painted it and, to my surprise, it has turned out to be one of my best leaves.  After seeing how large it was, I placed it on a metal plant stand and am now using it as a garden table.

The table turned out to be absolutely beautiful and is quite a conversation piece.  I have put several pictures of the table on my website, and I hope you'll take a look and tell me what you think.