Woodland plant mandala featuring bottlebrush buckeye flowers 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 Buckeye Candles, was created from this photo of bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) taken in the Celebration Garden at the West Virginia Botanic Garden near Morgantown. A native of more southern climes, bottlebrush buckeye is nevertheless a favorite of West Virginia pollinators, especially small hover flies and swallowtail butterflies.

Gardeners who know the bottlebrush buckeye love it for its memorably tall white flower clusters that emerge like oversized candles in early July. A woodland plant in the south, its tendency to sucker can result in huge thickets that turn a rich bright yellow in fall. The fall fruits look like clusters of miniature pears but don’t take a bite—the nuts they conceal are said to be poisonous to people and their livestock. As a non-native plant, bottlebrush buckeye doesn’t fulfill a long-established ecological niche in West Virginia, however, it is avoided by deer and can add vertical interest in a woodland garden.