Woodland plant mandala featuring rosebay rhododendron is digitally printed using pigment inks on silky, bright white, acid-free paper. Folded card is 5.25" by 5.25" and comes with a beautifully made, bright white envelope. Perfect for an everyday note or birthday card for a native plants gardener or nature lover. The photograph I used to create the mandala is printed on the back of the card with the photo location and a little story about the plant. Interior of the card is blank or choose a message (choices are below). The paper is super smooth, not slick, and takes gel, ballpoint, and other inks well. The card and envelope are packaged together in a plastic sleeve and mailed in a stiffened mailer.

Interior Message Choices: Blank, Happy Birthday

Framing. This card is created using high-quality materials, such as might be used in a museum. The print is sharp, bright, and frameable. To protect the vibrancy of the artwork, I frame using UV glass or acrylic, and I recommend it. If you use plain glass or acrylic, make sure you hang this sweet, little piece and all your beautiful art away from direct sunlight.

About the art. The digital collage on this card, titled Rhododendron Wreath, was created from this photo of native rosebay rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) taken at the West Virginia Botanic Garden near Morgantown. Rhododendron has been the state flower of West Virginia since 1903, beating out honeysuckle and wild rose in a statewide children’s vote.

Rosebay rhododendron produces tight bunches of soft pink buds that open into bouquets of white blooms brushed with pink. Unlike more garishly colored spring-blooming cultivars, our native rhododendron blooms in mid-summer, spangling the woods with bright patches at the height of firefly season. Referred to as “laurel slicks” or “laurel hells”, impenetrable thickets of rhododendron, like those found along Tibbs Run, each year attract nesting hooded warblers to the garden. Once the birds have flown, the thickets remain green and combine with hemlocks, mosses, and ferns to create a verdant winter fantasy.