Floral Designer Lindsey Taylor on Finding Inspiration in Art and Nature

Winter – Seasons have a way of yielding to the next just when I seem to need it. Some people like to hold on to summer and lament the coming of fall and winter. I’m not that person. I’m always ready for the change, and winter may be the most welcome after a busy growing season. Solitude and a sense of repose permeate, and a blanket of snow covering the landscape and garden that have performed to their fullest is a relaxing sight.

Since I know it won’t last, that spring will come again, winter offers its own beauty. I embrace it. On a sunny winter day, the light can be so clear and sparkly, crisply illuminating the world. On a gray day, the lines of trees against the sky are like nature’s pencil drawings. Deciduous oaks, beeches, hornbeams, and some witch hazel do their best to hold on to their crunchy, taupe-y leaves, withering while still on the stem (a phenomenon called marcescence), providing an earthy tone against all the neutrals.

Featured image: Lindsey Taylor, author of Art in Flower: Finding Inspiration in Art and Nature, gathering her materials. Photo: Ngoc Minh Ngo.

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