Unusual Fall Color

This weekend I decided to brave the bevy of spiders one last time so that I could harvest the last of our Monkshood...along with a few other flowers (two kinds of Dahlia's & "Autumn Joy" Sedum) to create a fall bouquet, which so didn't really look very much like fall but I liked it none the less.


Initially I just placed the vase directly on the marble but then thought it might be better placed upon *something* and decided to use a transferware platter that I had recently aqcuired. I'm so happy I did this because the next morning, the Monkshood had already started to drop it's petals...the platter ended up being the perfect petal catcher. I had given a few stalks of monkshood to a neighbor several weeks ago when they were in their prime and she said they had lasted a long time...must just be that they are on their last leg (or should I say stem).

The platter, made in 1892 by JHW & Sons - Hanley, England, was another to good to be true find, like recent Ironstone coffee/tea set that I happened upon, and one that I'm thrilled about. It's slightly warped and stained which to me means it was well used and well loved...and it was only $19.00! I've seen other items from this maker, plates not platters, that start at about $50- so needless to say, I couldn't pass it up. And see...it has a new job and seems to be quite happy in it's new home.
Monkshood, also known as 'Wolfsbane' as it has a long history of creating and repelling werewolves (the perfect Halloween flower ;), is an amazingly beautiful and hearty garden perennial...albeit a very poisonous one if you should decide to eat it's roots. It will also multiply into a forest very quickly if left to it's own devices.

Ours started out as a little potted plant that was a gift from a dear friend. We had never heard of it before and happily planted it in the garden. Each year there were more and more of them until finally, we started digging them up and giving them as gifts ourselves, passing them out to friends and family. Of course when dividing the roots, you must always be careful not to leave any pieces lying around as they might look like a tasty snack to someone, a fatal tasty snack!

The flower itself truly does look like a little hood, or a helmet that a Spanish conquistador might wear. I desperately tried to take a close up picture of one so that you all could see this phenomenon for yourself but my camera was acting very naughty and kept producing the blurriest of images and after about thirty attempts, I gave up. Hopefully you'll be able to see the hoody's in the images I have posted, if you look closely at the top bunch, they are quite visible.

During my excursion I also culled some Hydrangea's that have turned a suprisingly pretty mixture of green and pink which I'm so happy about because not that long ago they weren't looking so nice...but that's for another post!

I hope you've enjoyed this very mini botany lesson on the majestic Monkshood...and also hope that one day, you'll give this handsome flower a chance to bloom in your own garden.

*Update- Today I noticed a hummingbird having a feast at the Monkshood...it stayed for quite a long time...the flowers obviously aren't deadly in the petal & nectar department! I had never seen the little creatures eat there before...another wonderful reason to have them in your garden!