On the Beauty of Seeds, Pods, and Capsules - Lois Nestel Archive

From Lois Nestel's Wayside Wanderings archives:

"Most people are aware of the beauty of summer flowers and often bemoan their passing as winter approaches. This need not be a cause for regret because, while much color may be lost, there continue – as  seeds, pods, and capsules – many forms that rival the flowers in beauty and grace. Many of these seed containers last throughout the winter, serving as food for wildlife and pleasure for humans.

"There is a sculptured beauty in the pods of various milkweeds and wild iris, evening primrose, cockle and Indian pipes. Delicate grace is exemplified in airy sprays of sweet cicely, papery clusters of wild hops and feathery virgin’s bower (wild clematis) twining over bushes, and in the dried grasses and sedges, each with individual form and style.

Devil's Darning Needles (Clematis virginiana). This specimen is preserved in 
the Museum's herbarium collection.

"Many fall-blooming flowers (weeds if one must call them that) retain their form if not their color through the winter months. Goldenrod, tansy and yarrow are sepia-toned replicas of summer’s gay colors. Flowers such as asters lift clusters of tan star-like sepals above the snow.

"Touches of color do remain in scattered places; the dark velvety red of sumac heads, the red-orange of rose hips and the brighter red of highbush cranberries and hawthorn frozen on their shrubs.

"To enjoy these and many other beauties of winter there are few requirements; namely these:  get outside, have open eyes to see and an open mind, receptive enough to appreciate what is seen.

The seed head of mullein (Verbascum thapsus) - admired
during a seed collecting workshop hosted through the Museum.

"Examples of pods and grasses may be seen in the Cable Natural History Museum, and in the library one of the fine books is Ann Zwinger’s Beyond the Aspen Grove."