March 11, 2022 · 6:19 am

Out and About – A Photo Essay

Out and About – A Photo Essay

by Elizabeth Eby

(Ed. note:  This Out and About post is the first in a series – an occasional photo feature by artist, photographer, and Capitol Hill resident Elizabeth Eby.  She finds vignettes while out and about on Capitol Hill.) 

In February tiny white blooms with green markings start poking up through snow – snowdrops, the harbingers of spring.  Plants propagate from seed and offsets – new bulbs that grow attached to the mother bulb.  It’s a slow process, and these new bulbs need a year or two before they bloom. 
Snowdrops became quite fashionable in the 1800s in England and bulbs sold for thousands of pounds.  Recently a British breeder paid several thousand pounds for a rare species (white with large yellow dots) but offspring from that bulb have not yet been on the market.  Modern techniques like “chipping” (dividing mature bulbs into as many as 16 pieces) produce reasonably priced bulbs.  A similar technique is used to propagate orchids, bringing the price down to fit Trader Joe budgets.  Snowdrops can be found in shady spots all over the world.  This clump is located on Bay Street, SE.

Here’s a photo of a painting of snowdrops and Virginia bluebells by George Weymouth, a neighbor and good friend of Andrew Weyth.  Frolic, as he was known, was a horseman and “bon vivant” (see his New York Times obituary https://nyti.ms/3Ku6hOZ ).  Weymouth was one of the founders of the Weyth Museum and the Brandywine Conservancy Trust – a three hour drive from Capitol Hill.  The collection includes many of Weyth’s best known works as well as original illustrations of Treasure Island.  The museum is very intimate and visitors get to know generations of the Weyth family, personal histories of a few of Andrew’s models and local history starting with the Revolutionary War.

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

4 responses to “Out and About – A Photo Essay”

  1. Bengal Richter
    March 11, 2022 at 8:46 am

    These are wonderful photos, Elizabeth!

  2. Wendy Blair
    March 11, 2022 at 10:31 am

    I agree with Bengal. And your own prose comments are also most interesting.

  3. sandra bruce
    March 11, 2022 at 10:42 am

    This post is very nice

  4. Marian Connolly
    March 15, 2022 at 7:57 pm

    I love this new occasional feature both the photography and the content. Thanks!