Ornamental millet, backlit by the morning sun
Too many gardens, too many photos, too little time! I'm still trying to catch up with the 500+ photos I took during the Perennial Plant Association symposium two weeks ago in Baltimore; since then I've been to Buffalo and back for a family visit (150 more photos), and just this morning I was treated to a tour of some of the gardens of the United States National Arboretum by one of the gardeners, Bradley Evans. 250 new photos to sort through! How will I ever catch up? (Does anybody remember the days when you had a couple of rolls of film and had to make sure every one of those 48 or 72 frames really counted?) So for now, just a couple of photos from this morning, showing an ornamental millet that was catching the light just right. This plant has never really excited me, until I saw it with the morning light behind it, imparting it with an almost mammalian mystery. Below, the same plant photographed from the other side. It definitely loses something. If I ever have this plant in my garden, it will have to be in a spot where the sun is always behind it!
Ornamental millet
It's all about the lighting John. That's why I grow Begonia grandis on a hillside - so I can enjoy the sun illuminating the blood red undersides!
ReplyDeleteWish I could do that--despite having the hillside, the setting sun is on the wrong side so I get no backlighting. And I'm just not a morning person so the early light doesn't do me much good!
DeleteThe delete key is your friend when reviewing those photos. On millet: I've never really liked the look, but I do like the backlit version! Maybe I should give this plant a try next year...
ReplyDeleteI delete the obviously poor photos immediately; the problem is having 4 or 5 that seem equally good and I just can't bring myself to delete any of them. If I grew the millet, I would probably mass it a bit more, rather than using it as an accent here and there.
DeleteI grew millet Jester that when backlit with its chartreuse and dark purple leaves, looked stunning. The birds never touched it - they were one reason I tried it.
ReplyDeleteRay
I'm surprised--I would expect birds to be all over millet.
Delete