In the early hours of the morning, while the dew is still on the ground, I grab my camera, a cup of coffee, and leave the comfort of the porch to enjoy a walk through the woods behind my house. Even though I have walked this path many times, I will find something that I didn’t notice before. It always happens.

A Purpose and a Plan – Tablescape and Oak Limbs

The tablescape I have designed for fall requires wooden buttons. Large wooden buttons that will be custom-made from large oak limbs. (The Fall Décor will be posted soon!) So the purpose of this trek through the pasture and into the woods is to find the perfect limb for the buttons. Let’s see if we can stay focused!

A Walk Through the Woods Change of Plans – With a Horse

As I open the gate to the pasture, our horse Winnie joins me on my walk. Having such a curious nature, she apparently notices I have a new camera lens. She is inspecting the camera as I try to walk. Since I can go nowhere with a 1200 pound horse blocking my path, I decide to take a few photos of her while I wait for her curiosity to be satisfied!

Winnie – Morning Walks in the Woods

Walking a Well-worn Path

Finally, she is content, and our walk begins. We take the well-worn path that Winnie has made throughout the 17 years that she has been a part of our family. The path takes us through a field of wildflowers. There is a gentle breeze blowing, and the flowers are swaying back and forth, creating a sea of purple, yellow, red, and white on a backdrop of green and gold grasses.

Goldenrod and Other Wildflowers – Distracted Beauty

The bees and butterflies are gathering pollen from the beautiful goldenrod. Did you know the leaves of the goldenrod naturally contain rubber, and Thomas Edison experimented to produce a 12-foot-tall plant that yielded as much as 12% rubber? A Model T given to Edison by his friend Henry Ford has tires made from the leaves of the goldenrod! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldenrod)

The perennial white heath aster flowers are in full bloom. The nectar from the small, white daisy-like flowers that bloom from mid to late autumn is a great attraction for many species of bees, butterflies, and pollinators.

Crossing over the creek, I look up and see the hillside covered with a blanket of black-eyed Susans, some low to the ground, while others reach at least 4 feet tall. The black-eyed Susans are in the sunflower family and also known by these names: brown-eyed Susans, brown betty, gloriosa daisy, golden Jerusalem, English bull’s eye, poor-land daisy, and yellow ox-eye daisy. The botanical name is Rudbeckia hirta. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudbeckia_hirta)

According to Wikipedia, the black-eyed susan also has medicinal properties as a remedy for colds, flu, infection, swelling, and snake bites. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudbeckia_hirta)

Finally, I come to the place where I will choose my limbs for the tablescape project. Of course, you all know by now that I will be distracted time and again before I make it back home with my oak limbs.

A Few (many!) Hours Later – Back to the Plan

It is late afternoon now, the limbs are cut, and the project is close to being finished. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will leave you with a few photos. As you view the pictures, I hope you experience a sense of being in the woods on a walk with me this morning.

The bees love the pollen they harvest from the beautiful goldenrod flowers

Wild aster attracts pollinators of all types. Blooms from August to late frost.

Blackeyed Susan Sunflowers are beautiful against an old fence post

BlueMist flower is one of the best attractions for the pollinators

Many species of butterflies can be found in the field of BlueMist flowers

“Fall Decorations: Inside and Out” is coming soon!

Life at Spring Meadows | Gardening Living Creating

Sandi