November Maiden Grass in Zone 5

Those of us in zone 5 and colder appreciate any and all color in our gardens come November.

This is a reliable favorite of mine because of it extremely delicate but lovely purple tassels. The trick has been a pic(s) that can do justice to the fragile beauty I see in it.

Below, I’m substituting quantity for quality because I still haven’t captured that special magic that I feel for it but here they are FYI.

Dave

dwdruley-Looks like you were in my yard! LOL

PrairieGirlZ5,

Thanx,

I'm debating whether to seal/stain my two year old fence.

Thoughts?

Dave

Movement and light are the keys to the magic of ornamental grasses. This early blooming Miscanthus, shot on a breezy early morning in August, takes advantage of both.

donn,

WOW !!

It that pic quality doesn't argue for a new so-called "Photographic Arts" Forum on DG, I'll buy you a new hat!

Thanks a million for saving me the time and frustration of learning this the hard way.

In fact, you might be hearing from me regarding my mild dissatisfaction I continue to have with small bird pics.

Sincerely,
Dave

Stain/paint the old fence? Naw, but we're going to have to clean ours soon, too much moss can cause rot. I do think it looks nice stained, that is what I'll do next time. You know if you paint it, you have to paint it Every year?! :0)

Has it ever been "sealed" (transparently)? Supposedly adds a few years more life for us Zone 5 folk.

I prefer the natural look as opposed to a "pretty" look and so wouldn't stain it and NEVER would I paint it. Whether sealing it is worth the time and trouble is my real question.

Oh I don't know! LOL Please somebody jump in and tell us, so I can add that to the LOOONG list of things to do, LOL.

Good! Now we've got two people waiting...

Now I'll excuse myself for the rest of the weekend because I'm a football nut and have the Breeder's Cup on top of that.

It depends a great deal on what kind of wood the fence is made of. From here, they both look like Cedar. Staining or sealing it will add at least 5 years to an expected 10 year life. If you live in a 'mossy' climate, use a stain containing a 'mildewcide,' like a good deck stain.

If you prefer paint to stain, be sure to give it a good primer coat first, and you should get 2-3 years out of the final coat. It's also very easy to repaint it.

Whichever treatment you use, be sure to clean the wood thoroughly before application. A pressure washer does a good job of this.

Thanx donn,

Sealing the fence and doing a better job on the deck is now a #1 priority with me.

Since I know your skilled pic of the grass tassels to be a perceptive work of art, I wanted to reciprocate with some of mine at http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/656506/

Note this quote from GD_Rankin:

Dave..it doesn't look to me like you have much trouble with small birds. The haughty House Finch is a good example. We have at least 2 dozen pairs of the bossy little critters here, and you've captured their nature perfectly.

As for the subject of a forum on the art of photography, I'm afraid I'd have to come down on the side of those too busy to concentrate on it. I use my camera mostly for documentation, and frequently pay no attention to details like composition. The grass photo was cropped out of a much larger photo. It was the best part of a photo shot to document a hedge of this plant. I didn't see it when I took the photo, but found it later when looking at the photo on my screen. I understood, later, why it worked, but I didn't set it up initially to work. I wanted to capture the early light and wind in several copies of the same plant. I find a lot of my best photos that way; mining them out of larger photos.

Well, you'd be a "keeper" if you decided to go the art route imho.

Now, I'll get back to my weekend TV sports hobby.

Later.