Reeds are here all year round but when bushes die back and green fades out of the landscape they come into their own.
In the summer, there will be flowers either side of this path - daisies and vetches and all sorts of things I don't know the names for but, for now, reeds dominate
- and they won't stand still. It has been very windy recently. Indeed, to take these pictures it was, at times, hard to stand still, the wind was buffeting so much. They are being blown sideways - and I am too. Weather is contrary. Clouds are coming from the north but wind from the west. This means it is not too cold. An east wind is the coldest here.
It comes blasting up the English Channel. The coast you see is the south coast of Dorset - heading from Weymouth to Kimmeridge and Lulworth.
As evening falls, the light grows colder and the reeds turn silvery
and dull
and dramatic.
(The little white dot in the sky to the right of the reed head is the moon.)
I like reeds.
Photographs taken on the 2nd and 5th of January 2012.
I'm at sea with botanical names. Is Phragmites Communis the same as Phragmites australis?
I'm at sea with botanical names. Is Phragmites Communis the same as Phragmites australis?
13 comments:
More lovely pictures Lucy, thank you. I'm no good with the names either so can't help I'm afraid.
Hello Toffeeapple. I'm glad visitors to this blog tolerate my general ignorance! I've been Googling and reading and getting no-where and decided, in the end, to post the post. After all, they are lovely plants - whatever they are called!
These photos are gorgeous, Lucy!
Well, despite the wind, you have managed to get some great photos. My camera has a setting for Sport / Action shots, which would probably have been suitable!
Thanks Barbee - and Happy New Year!
Hello Mark. There's great advantage in being able to take lots of photos with a digital camera so one can use the pictures which 'snapped' between gusts. I'm not sure about the sports setting. Does that take make the photo 'work' at the expense of detail? I take almost all photos at 200. There are times when I change the camera setting to 400 but generally give up rather than do that. Pure dogged obstinacy and stupid determination to stick to the usual plan!
Lucy
Lucy these are stunning and I suspected looked familiar to those I see here...Phragmites are quite invasive here now but gorgeous in fall and winter!!
I don't know about the technical 'ins' and 'outs' of taking photographs - I just know they make me long to get back to the coast. Lovely shots!
I love reeds too - something about hissing noise they make when the wind goes through them. I must say, I'm a bit envious of the bright weather you're having!
I can't help you out with names I'm afraid - my grasses etc book is in Edinburgh, and I'm almost certain it covered the Phragmites.
I'm with you on the Phragmites . . . they make great photos, but they are so invasive that lots of farmers and public park areas here are trying to slow down their advance on the landscape.
I'm a phragmitophile too Lucy so these were pure joy - tactile and waving or sentry companions along narrow pathways.
Happy 2012 - will you be focusing on a different tree this year?
I love your study of reeds, very beautiful.
Hello Donna and Scott. It surprises me that these are growing on a cliff by the sea. It's sandy soil rather than wetland. (There's a huge badger holt among the reeds.) But, being between the sea and an old railway line, they can cover an impressive area without the danger than they will spread inappropriately into places they are not wanted.
Hello Elaine. Sometimes I wonder if I would like to live elsewhere - but I find it hard to be separated from the sea.
Hello Kitty. The story of Midas, where reeds reveal his secret that 'Midas has asses ears', fits beautifully. Whoever translated it, did it perfectly because that is precisely what they are still whispering, even in Dorset. Poor Midas!
Hello Patio Patch. I love the word 'Phragmitophile'. About the tree - I certainly won't abandon the sycamore I've been following but it doesn't do much and the leaves are too high to photo. (Its trunks were what first drew me to it.) They may be interesting in themselves but aren't brilliant for photos year in, year out; so I've been looking around for another to follow as well. Haven't chosen one yet. I chose a hawthorn one year - then found mud made it inaccessible in winter. I'm a bit more familiar with the landscape now so I should be able to chose better - but I'm more aware of the difficulties too so I keep ruling trees out.
Thanks, Country Mouse Studios.
Dear Everyone,
You might like to know there's a new post on Loose and Leafy. It's the latest update on the maturing of ivy berries. They really are very beautiful.
Here's the link.
http://goo.gl/Hw6Qf
Lucy
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