Marc Provins

Ferns are one of my favourite plant species, I can remember running my hand across them walking in woods as a child, the feel of their gentle fronds has stayed with me. They look like aliens in spring, gradually reaching out, unfurling. Then beautiful in autumn resting on each other suspended above the mulch that they will soon become part of. 

I've been cycling past this plant on the canal towpath every day on the way to work observing it blaze and flame with increased drama. I couldn't resist visiting today to make it's portrait before it settles quietly into the background for winter. 

There was no sight of this plant when I moved into my home last December. But gradually, steadily it grew to be about a foot taller than me in a season. It was grand and sculptural all summer but has now begun to droop, ready to disappear back into the soil during its dormancy. Apparently its shapes form the decorative detail on Corinthian columns, a little bit of classical Greece in a Manchester front garden.