Hosta and astilbe are beautiful in their own right and their colors complement each other nicely, but when I captured this scan several years ago I put it aside and didn’t do the fine editing until just recently.  Why?  Astilbe, like hairy fern fiddleheads or the impossibly fuzzy lamb’s ears leaves or even just a “simple” fern leaf require an investment in time that I wasn’t certain this one was worth.  Decent form, colors relaxing, but nothing called out to me particularly strongly, at least not enough to prioritize it over other images. But I’ve come back to it now, partly due to our forced isolation at a time of year with nothing of substance blooming yet and find myself enjoying it more.

And I thought, why not release it for anyone to enjoy?  Certainly we could all use a little of the uplifting beauty a simple flower can give, so feel free to download this image and print it for your personal enjoyment, and hopefully it gives a little peace and hope to you.