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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 13h

“But in October what a feast to the eye our woods and groves present! The whole body of the air seems enriched by their calm, slow radiance. They are giving back the light they have been absorbing from the sun all summer.” – from ‘Falling Leaves’ by John Burroughs (1837-1921).

Autumn Japanese maple leaves glowing in shades of coral, scarlet, orange and green, with dark twisting branches against a softly blurred golden background.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The last of October’s birth flowers is the marigold. Its sun-like flowers have the power to strengthen and comfort the heart, and cure melancholy. A spoonful of marigold jam taken at breakfast each morning will protect you from witches & enable you to see fairies. #FolkloreSunday

A collage about marigolds. On the left is Walter Crane’s 1906 illustration “The marigold that goes to bed with the sun, And with him rises weeping”, from “Flowers from Shakespeare’s Garden”. It shows a graceful woman in a pale flowing gown adorned with marigolds, standing beside a harp, with a setting sun and drooping marigold blooms behind her. At top right is a close-up photograph of a golden-yellow pot marigold flower against a soft green background. At bottom right is a wider photograph of a border filled with orange marigolds in bloom.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

A Red Admiral pauses to feed on a strawflower, its papery petals glowing like rubies in the autumn sunlight. These striking butterflies can often be seen on the wing well into autumn, bringing another flash of colour to the garden in the first days of October.

A Red Admiral butterfly, with dark brown-black wings marked by vivid orange-red bands and white spots, feeds on a pink and ruby-red strawflower with a bright yellow centre. Two unopened blooms sit below against a softly blurred green background.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Cosmos are another birth flower for those born in October. Their name comes from the Greek “κόσμος”, meaning order, harmony or adornment. Perhaps inspired by their name, and the balanced shape of the flowers, cosmos have come to symbolise harmony and perfection. #FlowersOnFriday

A pale pink cosmos flower with a yellow centre, visited by a bumblebee. Delicate buds, feathery foliage and softly blurred pink cosmos flowers fill the green background.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The Dahlia is a birth flower for those born in October. In the language of flowers, it symbolises dignity and elegance. Dreaming of brightly coloured Dahlias is said to bring good fortune, while in flower magic they are associated with “spiritual evolution”. #FolkloreThursday

A colourful display of dahlias in full flower, with large coral, apricot and vivid pink blooms rising among green leaves and unopened buds.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

“With a beauty all his own Reigns winter keen and hoary; Sweet the springtide’s vivid smile, Sweet the summer’s glory; But autumn’s bounteous hand, In the cloudless weather, Brings flower, fruit, and harvest home To the world together.” – from ‘Autumn Hedges’ by S. K. Phillips.

A nine-photo collage of early autumn fruits and wildlife. Rose hips, hazelnuts and red hawthorn haws fill the top row; dark sloes, a painted lady butterfly on a yellow flower and red apples the middle; yellow crab apples, ripening blackberries and blue-black sloes the bottom row.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

29 September is Michaelmas, the feast of St. Michael and All Angels. St. Michael, traditionally the celestial warrior who leads the fight against evil, is patron saint of soldiers, paratroopers and police officers. The Michaelmas daisy, or aster, is his dedicated flower.

Collage of Michaelmas daisies in shades of soft lilac-blue. A small copper butterfly rests with open wings on one flower, while a meadow brown feeds on another. Other images show clusters of the daisy-like flowers, with yellow centres, blooming in the late-summer garden.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

If you plan to pick blackberries, hurry! Tomorrow, 29th September, is Michaelmas, the feast of St Michael the Archangel, who cast the Devil from Heaven. Folklore says the Devil fell into a blackberry bush and, in revenge, spits or stamps on its berries each Michaelmas, evermore.

Split image. Left, “Saint Michael and the Dragon”, a medieval illumination by the Master of Sir John Fastolf from a Book of Hours, c.1430–1440, showing the haloed archangel in red and gold armour standing over a black winged dragon (the devil) and piercing it with a lance. Right, a close-up photograph of a bramble laden with blackberries at different stages of ripening, from pale green and pink to glossy black.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The Speckled Wood was once called the “Wood Argus”, its eye-spots recalling Argus, the many-eyed giant guardian of Greek myth. Its scientific name, “Pararge aegeria”, also has a woodland link: Egeria was a Roman nymph associated with springs and sacred groves. #FolkloreSunday

A Speckled Wood butterfly resting with its wings spread against a soft green woodland background. Its brown wings are patterned with cream and golden markings and several prominent dark eye-spots ringed with yellow.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The Harvest Moon is the full moon nearest the #AutumnEquinox. In 2026 it falls on 26 September. In Gaelic lore it was “Gealach an abachaidh”, the ripening moon, believed to ripen crops, and “Gealach bhuidhe nam broc”, the badgers’ yellow moon, when badgers gathered winter stores.

A three-part autumn collage. On the left, a vintage illustration of a European badger by Franz Murr (1887–1964), surrounded by a cream border. On the right, a glowing full moon in a golden sky above a field of ripe golden wheat.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

In the garden, flowers are taking on the colours of an autumn sunset: burnt orange, amber, gold and glowing red. Roses, dahlias, strawflowers, Helenium and Spanish flag seem to catch the warmth of the sinking sun, carrying a little summer fire into autumn. #FlowersOnFriday

Collage of late-summer flowers in glowing autumnal colours. Red, orange, yellow and cream Spanish flag flowers arch from purple stems; an orange and yellow rosebud sits beside coral dahlias; a hoverfly feeds on a fiery strawflower; and burnt-orange Helenium blooms fill the final image.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

When the first apple tree looked skyward and wished for its own star to cherish, the orchard fairy promised one if it worked hard. The tree toiled all year, and in #autumn was rewarded with stars at the heart of its fruit, to cradle the seeds of future trees. #FolkloreThursday

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

“Through the hush one hears the tuneless drone of insects, lulling fears and hopes alike. A sense half understood, of something sweet that was and is no more, stirs in the heart. ‘Summer is gone,’ we say.” — Emily Shaw Forman (1827-1908).

Nine-photo collage of late-summer insects among colourful flowers. Six furry bumblebees feed on purple, pink and blue blooms, two red admiral butterflies rest on yellow and lilac flowers, and a white butterfly visits pink verbena. Soft green, gold and violet backgrounds give the photographs a warm, fading-summer feel.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

“The year, with fickle pulse, Weary of bloom, begins to live for fruit. Hope now is born at turning of the tide, And spreads her hue along the gauzy lines Of spider webs between the blades of grass.” — ‘The Turn of Summer’ by Augustus Radcliffe Grote (1841-1903). #AutumnEquinox

Autumn collage featuring bright red rose hips, a dew-beaded spider’s web, vivid pink and russet leaves, clusters of orange berries, acorns on an oak twig, a bracket fungus growing from a tree trunk, ripening blackberries and golden-yellow fern fronds.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

“How one fears a frost! And all on account of the dahlias. They make a goodly show now, and I have been won round to love them.” – from ‘My Kalendar of Country Delights’ by Helen Milman (1857-1937). #gardening

A nine-photo collage of dahlias flowering in early autumn. Their colours range from deep pink, white and burgundy to peach, coral and soft pink. The flowers vary from neat, densely layered blooms to open, star-shaped and tousled forms, photographed against soft green garden backgrounds.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Mabon is a modern Pagan festival marking the autumn equinox, when day and night are nearly equal. A celebration of harvest, gratitude and nature’s slow turn towards winter, its modern name was taken from Mabon ap Modron, a figure in medieval Welsh legend. #FolkloreSunday

A nine-image collage celebrating the autumn harvest, with ripe purple plums and sloes, red and green apples, a pear, golden fields of wheat and a pile of orange pumpkins.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

As the last days of summer fade into autumn, ripening sunflower heads become a feast for garden birds. Great tits and other seed-eaters prise out the seeds, a nutritious treat rich in fats and protein that provides valuable energy as the days shorten and the weather grows cooler.

A great tit perched on a ripe, drooping sunflower seed head beside a vivid orange sunflower, against a softly blurred green garden background.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

In Devonshire goldenrod is called ‘farewell-to-summer’ because it blooms from August through September. It is said to grow where secret hoards of gold are hidden, and if it unexpectedly appears near a dwelling, then the inhabitants will surely have good fortune. #FlowersOnFriday

Collage of goldenrod flowering in late summer. Tall stems carry abundant arching sprays of tiny golden-yellow flowers above narrow green leaves. Close-up views show the feathery flower clusters, with a bumblebee visiting one bloom.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) is also called Barber’s Brush, Fairy’s Broom and Prickly Beehive. Romans called it “lavacrum Veneris”, or “basin of Venus”, as droplets of water that gather at the leaf joints were said to have medicinal and beautifying qualities. #FolkloreThursday

Collage of teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) growing in the wild, showing its prickly flower heads at different stages: ringed with tiny purple flowers, green and developing, and dried golden-brown. Below, numerous dried teasel heads stand against a blue, cloudy sky.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The wild rose, Rosa canina, is said to be sacred to Mother Earth because its flowers have five petals, and five has long been considered a magical number. In autumn, its blooms become bright-orange hips, once used in charms for love, good health and prosperity. #RoseWednesday

Collage of the wild rose, Rosa canina. Left, a botanical lithograph by Maurice Pillard Verneuil from Eugène Grasset’s “Plants and their Application to Ornament” (1897), showing flowering and fruiting stems. Right, photographs of a five-petalled white wild rose and clusters of bright red-orange rose hips.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Lovely to catch a glimpse of a painted lady butterfly still enjoying the flowers in the September sunshine. Its beautiful wings, patterned in autumnal shades of amber, russet and cream, seem perfectly suited to the season!

Close-up of a painted lady butterfly feeding on a white scabious flower in the September sunshine. Its intricately patterned wings are a mosaic of warm orange, amber, brown, cream and black, with small eye-spots near the wing edges, against a softly blurred green background.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

14 September, Holy Cross Day, was traditionally a day for “nutting”, when people went into woods and hedgerows to gather ripe hazelnuts. Folklore warned that the best must be gathered before Devil’s Nutting Day on 21 September, when the Devil roamed the woods to claim his share!

Collage of four close-up photographs of ripening hazelnuts on their branches, showing the nuts at different stages from pale green and pink-flushed to rich brown, surrounded by their leafy, frilled husks.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

In Danish folklore, Hyldemoer, the Eldermother, lived in or beneath the elder tree and avenged harm done to it. Elderwood was best avoided in buildings or furniture, for those who used the forbidden wood risked being plagued by mysterious hands pulling their legs! #FolkloreSunday

Collage of elder (Sambucus nigra): left, a detailed botanical illustration showing leaves, flowers and berries; right, photographs of creamy elderflower umbels and clusters of glossy black elderberries on red stems against green foliage. Illustration from Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen (c.1887).

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Ye silent wooers of the wishing flowers That, blushing, lure you to their honeyed halls, Dance out your golden day, and steal its hours, Till o'er you, as o'er men, Death's slumber falls: Till Spring shall blow "Resurgum” o'er the lea, And name you types of Immortality! - J. Rigg

A Brown Argus butterfly, wings closed to reveal its intricate brown, orange, black and white underwing markings, feeding on the vivid orange-red cone of a pink echinacea flower, against a softly blurred green background.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

“What new delight thy slender spires to find, With tress of hyacinthine bells entwined! Fragrance like thine no rose of June can yield: No lily can eclipse thy snow, dear prize, Flung backward from sweet Summer as she flies.” – from ‘Lady’s Tresses’ by E. S. Forman (1827-1908).

Collage of autumn lady’s-tresses (Spiranthes spiralis), a small orchid with tiny white flowers spiralling around a downy green stem. Close-up photographs show the hairy stem and delicate flowers. Centre: botanical plate of Spiranthes autumnalis (now S. spiralis) and Goodyera repens from Otto Wilhelm Thomé’s ‘Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz’ (1885). Upper left: description of autumn lady’s-tresses from H. Isabel Adams’s ’Wild Flowers of the British Isles’ (1907–10).

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Medea brews a magic potion to restore aged Aeson, father of Jason, to youth. Where drops from the cauldron fall on earth, flowers spring up. Later botanical lore identifies them as poisonous meadow saffron (Colchicum autumnale). #FolkloreThursday

Collage illustrating the legend of Medea and meadow saffron. Left: John William Waterhouse’s ‘Jason and Medea’ (1907), showing Medea in a red gown preparing a potion as Jason watches beside her. Right: two photographs of lilac-pink meadow saffron (Colchicum autumnale) flowering in grass, alongside Maurice Pillard Verneuil’s stylised botanical illustration ‘Colchique d’automne’ (1903).

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

“It is the hour of the rose. Summer has gone, but the phantom-summer is here still.” – Fiona Macleod (1855-1905) Roses blooming in September seem to belong to that “phantom-summer”, their late flowers carrying the colour and fragrance of summer into early autumn. #RoseWednesday

A collage of nine roses in shades of soft yellow, white, pink, crimson, apricot and deep purple, all photographed in early September. Some blooms are sprinkled with raindrops, while others are accompanied by rosebuds, all photographed against softly blurred green garden backgrounds.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Dahlia ‘Innocent Silence’, bringing a little calm and serenity to your day.

Close-up of Dahlia ‘Innocent Silence’, with creamy-white petals glowing lemon yellow towards the centre and delicately flushed with pink at the tips, framed by fine, wispy grasses against a softly blurred green background.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

“Earth’s flaunting flower of passion fadeth fair To ripening fruit in sunlit veils of the air…” #Fruits found for #WildflowerHour: rose hips, elderberries, white bryony berries, snowberries, crab apples, sloes, haws, blackberries, dogwood berries, holly berries, sweet chestnuts.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Forbidden lovers Pyramus and Thisbe are sometimes called the original Romeo and Juliet. In Ovid’s tale, a tragic misunderstanding leads to both their deaths under a mulberry tree. Their blood stains its once-white fruit dark red, forever marking their doomed love. #FolkloreSunday

Collage illustrating the story of Pyramus and Thisbe and the black mulberry. Left: ’Pyramus and Thisbe’ (1795) by Austrian painter Andreas Nesselthaler, showing Thisbe grieving over Pyramus beneath the mulberry tree as Cupid flies above. Centre: Jacob Sturm’s botanical illustration of black mulberry (Morus nigra), Plate 39 from ‘Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen’. Right: two photographs of ripening mulberries on the tree.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Echinacea purpurea was introduced to England from Virginia in the late 17th century. In 1699, Oxford Physic Garden’s Jacob Bobart called it Dracunculus virginianus, “little dragon of Virginia” – perhaps inspired by its traditional use for snakebite or its spiked, flame-like cone.

Close-up photograph of pink and coral Echinacea flowers in a summer garden, their petals surrounding prominent spiky, reddish-brown central cones, with soft green foliage in the background.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

“And in the feathery aster bees on wing Seize and set free the honied flowers, Till thousand stars leap with their visiting: While ever across the path lazily flit, Unpiloted in the sun, The dreamy butterflies… “ – from ‘The Garden in September’ by Robert Bridges (1844-1930).

Collage of late-summer garden flowers and visiting insects. A bumblebee feeds on a vivid pink aster, while purple-blue asters attract butterflies and a bee. A brown butterfly rests on a pale lilac aster, with a final view of a cluster of bright pink aster blooms.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

In the modern Celtic Ogham Tree Calendar, Vine (sometimes interpreted as Bramble) rules Muin, the 10th month of the calendar, from 2nd–29th September. Both plants are laden with ripening fruit at this time of year making them fitting symbols of autumn abundance. #FolkloreThursday

Collage illustrating Vine and Bramble: vintage botanical plates of a grapevine laden with purple grapes and a flowering and fruiting blackberry bramble, alongside photographs of ripening blackberries and a bunch of purple grapes. Illustrations by Maurice Pillard Verneuil, from ‘La Plante et ses Applications ornementales, Deuxième série’ (1896).

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The morning glory, Ipomoea tricolor, is the second birth flower of September. In old England it was known as “life of man” for its flowers are in bud in the morning, open by noon and wither by evening. In the Victorian language of flowers it is an emblem of affection. #folklore

A collage of morning glories. Left: a botanical illustration by Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759–1840) showing blue and deep purple blooms with heart-shaped leaves. Top right: a close-up photo of a vivid blue morning glory flower. Bottom right: a Japanese woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) depicting various morning glory flowers in soft blues, purples, and pinks with trailing vines and foliage.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

September’s birth flower, the Aster, takes its name from the Greek word for ‘star’. Legend tells that Astraea, goddess of innocence and truth, fled the troubled Earth, becoming the constellation Virgo. Looking sorrowfully from heaven her tears fell to Earth, where asters bloomed.

Collage of asters: a bumblebee feeding on pale pink flowers and a mass of small white asters with golden centres, beside an 1889 trading card depicting Astraea, Goddess of Truth, beneath a crescent moon and stars, issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Last day of August: “… The turn has come; Night-hidden messengers have touched the scene; And, in the morning, when we greet, we say 'My love, my dear, the summer days have been.'” — from ‘The Turn of Summer’ by Augustus Radcliffe Grote (1841-1903).

Collage of colourful late-summer flowers in a garden: a golden-yellow daisy-like bloom, orange Heleniums with rounded brown centres, pink-purple coneflowers, rich violet-purple roses, and a loose planting of pink, cream, yellow and orange everlasting flowers. Lush green foliage and softly blurred flowers fill the backgrounds, capturing the garden at the end of August.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

“All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.” Found for this week’s #WildflowerHour: snake’s head fritillary, wild carrot, selfheal, common knapweed, yellow rattle, oxeye daisy, and cock’s-foot. #Seedheads

Collage of seven wildflower seedheads in soft late-summer shades of gold and brown: snake’s head fritillary, wild carrot, selfheal, common knapweed, yellow rattle, oxeye daisy and cock’s-foot. The large central photograph shows the intricate, basket-like seedhead of wild carrot.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Summer slips into autumn, and the rose undergoes a magical transformation: as the petals fall away, ripening hips take their place, glowing like fairy lanterns. An old weather saying foretells what might follow: “Many hips and haws, many frosts and snaws.” #FolkloreSunday

Collage celebrating rose hips, with three photographs showing clusters of vivid red and orange hips among green rose leaves. Alongside them is an illustration of a winged fairy perched among rose hips, by Cicely Mary Barker, from ‘The Autumn Fairy Book’ (1926).

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) bears dark red spots, said to appear on 29 August, the day St John the Baptist met his terrible fate. His gold-flowered plant was also known as Sol Terrestris, the “earthly sun”, its light believed to drive away spirits of darkness. #folklore

Collage of St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum). Left, a vintage botanical illustration showing its yellow flowers, stems and leaves alongside Hypericum maculatum, with detailed studies of the leaf and plant structures. Right, two photographs of St John’s Wort: a mass of golden-yellow flowers growing in the wild above, and a close-up of the flowers and dark-spotted buds below. Botanical illustration by Carl Axel Magnus Lindman, from ‘Bilder ur Nordens Flora’, plate 230.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

It’s raining at last and there’s a fabulous, intense scent of petrichor outside. The word comes from Greek petros (stone) and ichor (the fluid said to flow in the veins of the gods), beautifully evoking rain releasing an almost divine essence from the earth. A wonderful word!

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Tomorrow’s full moon falls in Weodmōnaþ, the Anglo-Saxon name for August. Writing in AD 725, Bede explains it means “month of weeds”, referring to plants flourishing abundantly at this time. The Anglo-Saxons measured their months by the course of the moon. #FolkloreThursday

Collage of late-summer wildflowers in shades of yellow, purple and white, including harebell, bellflower, yarrow, thistle and scabious, with a hoverfly, butterflies and a six-spot burnet moth feeding among the flowers.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Dahlia ‘Pink Suffusion’ from my garden, wishing you all a happy Wednesday. 🌸 #gardening

Close-up photograph of two pink Dahlia ‘Pink Suffusion’ flowers, with the richly layered bloom in the foreground in sharp focus and a second flower softly blurred behind. Unopened buds and green foliage rise between the flowers against a softly blurred, neutral background.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Virgo, the sixth zodiac sign, begins around 23 August and lasts until 22 September. An earth sign represented by the Maiden, it has ancient links with harvest and is traditionally shown holding an ear or sheaf of wheat. Virgo’s brightest star is Spica, Latin for ‘ear of grain’.

Hand-coloured engraving of the constellation Virgo, Plate 21 from ‘Urania’s Mirror’ (1825), engraved by Sidney Hall. Virgo is depicted as a winged maiden in red and green robes, holding an ear of wheat. The constellation’s stars are marked across her figure, with Spica shown at the wheat in her hand.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

The sunflower, Helianthus annuus, is the flower dedicated to St Bartholomew, whose feast day is 24th August. In late summer its brilliant blooms shine like reflections of the sun. Traditionally known as “St Bartholomew’s Star”, it is a symbol of constancy and devotion. #folklore

Close-up photograph of a bright golden-yellow sunflower in full bloom, its overlapping petals streaked with warm amber around a tightly patterned green and brown centre. Large green leaves and dark burgundy foliage form a softly blurred background.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

The wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis) is a rare relic of ancient woodland. It bears fruits known as chequers, once sold at markets and given to children as sweets. Said to taste like dates, they were used to flavour beer and may have inspired the name of ‘Chequers Inns’. #FolkloreSunday

Botanical illustration of the wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis), showing clusters of white flowers, brown chequer fruits, deeply lobed green leaves, seeds, seedling and twig. Drawn and lithographed by W. Liepoldt for Gustav Hempel and Karl Wilhelm’s ‘Die Bäume und Sträucher des Waldes’ (1889), Plate LIII.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Late in August, the gracious sun, His pleasant task completing, Smiles at the work so nearly done, And reddened the apple cheeks every one, With ripening kisses; and then begun Was the feast of the high-top sweeting. – from ‘The High-Top Sweeting’ by Elizabeth Akers (1832-1911)

A collage of apples ripening in a late-summer garden. On the left, clusters of rosy red and green apples grow against an old brick wall. At top right, bright red apples hang among glossy green leaves, while below, pale yellow-green apples ripen on a leafy branch.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Flowers from my garden, wishing you a beautiful day! 🌸 #FlowersOnFriday

Collage of colourful flowers blooming in a summer garden, including soft pink and deep magenta dahlias, vivid pink and purple fuchsias, and clusters of bright pink asters, one visited by a small insect. Soft green garden backgrounds frame the flowers.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

It’s said that the tiniest fairy folk often choose flowers as their homes. When bringing cut flowers inside to display in a vase, always remember to leave their stems long so the blooms stay well above the water. This allows the fairies to escape safely and dry! #FolkloreThursday

A vintage illustration by Margaret Tarrant showing three tiny winged fairies among towering white daisies and grasses. One fairy in yellow sits on a daisy holding a quill and pink petal on her lap, another climbs a flower stem, while a third writes with a white feather on a pink petal, while sitting on a leaf below. The scene is set against a soft blue background.

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VenetiaJane’s Garden @venetiajane.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

The Agapanthus or ‘African Lily’ is the ‘flower of love’, its name derived from Greek ‘agapē’ meaning love and ‘anthos’, flower. A piece of its root kept as an amulet is said to protect those who fear thunderstorms and to ward off thunder. #folklore

Close-up photograph of Agapanthus in a summer garden, with clusters of vivid violet-blue, trumpet-shaped flowers and unopened buds held on tall green stems. Softly blurred white, green and purple flowers fill the background.

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