A German Posy

tanjabrittonwriter 59 Comments

While what is supposed to be winter in Colorado Springs has only brought one short-lived snowfall, which has already receded into memory, and the landscape, instead of being clad in a snow-white suit is wearing a drab brown cloak, my mind wanders back to those autumn days in Germany still draped in colorful garb.

My reminiscences don’t stem from a dislike of winter. I’m glad to be living in a place that has four distinct seasons, even if they have lost some of their characteristics, and I don’t want to hurry this season along, as nature needs its periods of rest and renewal. So do humans, but we have chosen to disregard that fact—to everybody’s detriment.

I have used the weeks that straddle the old and the new year to “bird, eat, and read,” as I recently told some friends. I added that one has to choose one’s goals wisely in order to give oneself a chance to meet them. I have had no trouble meeting mine. 😊

One of the books I returned to, after my initial reading this past summer, is Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. In its pages, like some precious seed sleeping in the earth’s fertile humus and ready to burst forth, lie some of the most profound and touching words to ever have tugged on my heartstrings:

Sometimes I wish I could photosynthesize

so that just by being,

just by shimmering at the meadow’s edge

or floating lazily on a pond,

I could be doing the work of the world

while standing silent in the sun.

With a renewed sense of awe and appreciation I look at the green world that holds and sustains us, and I thank each plant not only for her beauty, but for “doing the work of the world,” by inhaling our carbon dioxide and returning to us life-giving oxygen and food to nourish our bodies and souls.

To enlarge a photo, click on it. To read its caption, hover the cursor over it.

Bladder Campion/Weiße Nachtnelke
Autumn crocus/Herbstzeitlose
Sunflower/Sonnenblume
Common Foxglove/Roter Fingerhut
Field Poppy/Klatschmohn
Brown Knapweed/Wiesen-Flockenblume
Common Mallow/Wilde Malve
Sunflowers/Sonnenblumen

PS: I don’t pick wildflowers, but decided to include a photo of the pretty bouquet someone else had felt compelled to collect. I’m not sure, but think it contains goldenrod (Goldrute), oregano (Wilder Dost), a Red Campion (Rote Lichtnelke oder Rotes Leimkraut), a type of aster (Aster), and some small pink flowers I don’t recognize. If you botanists find any wrong identifications, please let me know.

59 thoughts on “A German Posy”

  2. I just checked the Austin Public Library for Braiding Sweetgrass and found there are 27 holds on 2 copies of the 2013 edition and 14 holds on 5 copies of the 2020 edition. Even the e-book version of the 2013 edition has 34 holds on 13 copies.

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  5. A beautiful posting (as usual)! I’m hoping for real snow tonight, so I can be out in the winter wonderland tomorrow. I’ve been spending my time looking at gardening catalogues….
    😉
    Julie

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  6. You describe perfectly what we’ve also been doing… “bird, eat, and read.” I’ll have to remember that one. It’s delight full, isn’t it? As dreadful as things may be happening around us, there are still joys to be had in the simpler things.

    I believe I may be about ready to read again that wonderful “Braiding Sweetgrass.” Have you read “Entangled Life” by Merlin Sheldrake? That’s another one that dives deep into the interconnectedness of life on this earth. 🙏

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    • I was sure I wasn’t the only one engaging in these full-of-delight activities, Gunta. 😊
      Thank you for mentioning “Entangled Life.” I had read a short review in “The Book Page,” which sounded intriguing then, but haven’t yet read the book. Will add it to my wish-list.
      Take care,
      Tanja

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      • The way I see it – can’t miss with an author’s name Merlin Sheldrake! 😉

        I just took a closer look at your Gravatar and it sure brought back memories of hearing the Meadowlarks belting out their songs back in Utah! I miss their sweet song.

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    • Ich danke Dir für Deinen botanischen Feinblick, liebe Ulrike. Es freut mich, mit der Wiesen-Flockenblume Bekanntschaft gemacht zu haben. Wenn ich mir das Bild jetzt wieder anschaue, zeigt es ganz klar keine Kornblume, denn die sollte ich eigentlich kennen.
      Wenn ich in meinem Band “Was blüht denn da?” nach einer Rosa Lichtnelke schaue, gibt es kein Beispiel, nur Rote Lichtnelke bzw. Rotes Leimkraut. Sind diese Arten identisch?

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  8. What a lovely array of wildflowers. I enjoyed viewing them.

    With all the YouTubes I’ve watched of storms and heavy snow in the U.S. I admit to being surprised that snow in your area hasn’t arrived. Mr Google tells me you’re going to get some in the next week or two though. (Note that I believe weather forecasts anymore 😀 ).

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    • Thank you, Vicki, I’m glad you enjoyed the flowers. 🌸

      Some parts of Colorado have received some much-needed snow, but the weather to the east of the Rocky Mountains, where we live, is quite different from the higher elevations. I hope the weather forecast you checked is telling the truth!

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  11. Your photos are lovely, and I really enjoyed seeing the German names of the flowers. I would have recognized a few, like Sonnenblumen, but they’re all intriguing. I really liked Flockenblume. That’s evocative! I noticed, too, that the pretty bouquet you featured contains two colors that are so typical of autumn here: purple and gold or yellow. What we lack in leaf color, we get in flowers.

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    • Thank you very much. Whenever I’m in Germany, I enjoy its flora and I’m still learning, as one of the interchanges show. I always wish I had paid better attention when our high school biology teacher took us on botany excursions, but in those days, my mind was filled with different interests.

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  12. A lovely post and “simple” pleasures we should not take for granted (nor should we deny them for whatever reason!) and on reflection they are not really simple. And how nice to learn from nature that winter is a time of rest and renewal.

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    • I also think that nature has so much to teach us. In particular, that we are part of her, and don’t exist apart from her. The notion of the beating butterfly wings affecting everything on earth is so profoundly true and moving.

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  16. A Happy New Year to you, dear Tanja. I agree with your wise choice of New Year resolutions 🙂 It is a treat to see your local wildflowers, and I love what you wrote about winter being a time of rest and renewal. Alas, if we humans could also (re)learn this…
    Hoping you continue to stay safe, warm and healthy always.

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    • Dankeschön, liebe Maren. Ich schaue mir an weniger erbaulichen Tagen auch gerne farbige Naturbilder an.
      Ich kann verstehen, wenn jemand einen kleinen Blumenstrauß mit nach Hause nehmen will, glaube aber, daß wir zwei nicht alleine im Unterlassen des Pflückens sind. Die Insekten und andere Wesen danken es uns.
      Dir eine gute neue Woche.
      Tanja

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  20. I love the photos of wildflowers. When we first came to the US, we were not used to the changing of the seasons at all (Sri Lanka has summer year-round). But now we have grown to cherish them! I can’t imagine living in a place where I won’t get to experience spring!

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  23. Loved your flowers and as well the quote from Braiding Sweetgrass which is on my shelf as yet unread. I would guess you’d advise me to remedy that situation. Considering the damage we do, photosynthesizing would be a nice gift to return for all the Earth does for us. 🙂

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    • Thank you, Steve. I absolutely love the sentiment inherent in that quote and can only say that “Braiding Sweetgrass” will provide you with countless more memorable and profound insights. I hope you will find the time to read it.

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