Purple Knotweed

While waiting on the arrival of hurricane Florence in 2018, I decided it was the perfect time for an indoor photography project. While most of my subjects can be found close to my North Charleston home, I sought out the smallest flowering plants I could find in my own yard. I wanted to examine these overlooked plants more closely and what I found was a fascinating and beautiful world.

I didn’t have a name for it at the time, but purple knotweed grew all around the edges of my yard, anywhere grass didn’t grow. When it blooms in the late summer and fall, it’s just a sea of small purple flower spikes. Like most of the subjects of this show, I had no idea what I would find on closer inspection. I never imagined there would be so many flowers, their tight buds accented by even smaller hairs.

I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface while photographing this plant, and would like to take more photos of it during other stages of its development.