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The Frozen Fairyland Of Skeletal Hydrangea Plants

I love photographing skeletal leaves. To me, stumbling across a leaf that has shed it’s many layers to become a fragile treasure is like finding one of Nature’s secrets. My particular favourites to photograph are Hydrangea. In my garden of my council house that I share with my father is a pink Hydrangea bush that was planted by my late grandfather in 1972. It is still going strong and blooms brightly every Summer. The real beauty however, arrives in Winter when the last season’s blooms become a magical, fragile Narnia for the fairies. Maybe I can relate to this broken existence. Perhaps the fragility of Nature appeals more because of it’s sheer honesty. We are all a little fragile from time to time. We all of us just one step away from broken dreams. But those who show that side, revel in the strength that ultimately follows.