Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) is commonly found along the shores of ponds and rivers throughout the eastern United States and in some Canadian provinces. The plant grows in abundance throughout the Adirondack Mountain region of northern New York, where I make my home.
During the warm months of the year, I have regularly explored waterways and have often seen pickerelweed in my travels, whether by canoe or walking near shores. Interestingly, while I have seen these plants on many occasions and in some instances even included some as framing devices in photographs, it wasn't until an experience I had on one particular walk that I actually “saw” the intrinsic beauty of the pickerelweed.
I was walking along a wetland area where I often spend time and at a certain point, I stopped and found myself looking much closer at the weeds near shore than I ever had before. As I examined them, I began to see forms and relationships which had previously eluded me. In some cases, I've made the jump from a purely objective study of a plant to a more subjective interpretation of imagined relationships and activities.
