Category: Plants

Rescue Cactus

Every time I hike the hills at the end of our street, I pass by a cactus. The blooms of the cactus are white, large, and gorgeous. A month or so back this is what I saw–

Cactus and Fence

What were they thinking??? Sure it is nice to add a privacy fence, put what about the cactus?

I found some broken pieces on the ground. So, of course I scooped them up and brought them home. This is how they look today–

Cactus

Some of the pieces are scarred from their previous home, but they are all thriving. Every piece has new growth!

The Last Day of the Agave

I knew the agave would eventually be removed, but knowing and being prepared are quite different. For over a year, I watched the agave grow and change. Some days there were stunning changes, other days the changes were subtle almost imperceptible. The agave became a favored haunt for several birds–crows, doves, jays, hummingbirds, and a hawk.

Agave

Hawk in the Agave 26 December 2015

Agave

The Agave 24 March 2015

Agave

The Agave 19 October 2015

Recently the tilt of the agave increased. Could a strong wind have blown it over?

The folks arrived Monday morning to remove the agave.They mentioned that the sap from the agave can be a skin irritant, actually can burn. Funny that agave can be used as a sweetener. With lots of plants, their parts can be toxic when not respected and used properly.

The workers were quite organized and worked efficiently. After each cut the agave parts were tossed into the truck.

Agave

Agave

The First Cut

Agave

Agave

Agave

Agave

Agave

Agave

Agave

The Lovely Fiber of the Agave

Agave

Where the Agave Once Stood, A Small Agave Survives

That little plant makes me so happy!

Grass Piece

Cut Grass

Cut Grass

Cut Grass Prepared for Piece

Prepared Grass for Piece

The grass is similar to velcro. It sticks to itself, to fingers, to clothing, and to the bamboo crochet thread that I am using.

Grass Piece in Progress

The first grass was bound to the bottom of the hardware cloth covering 5 rows.

Grass Piece in Progress

Next, five rows of grass were bound horizontally from right to left.

Grass Piece in Progress

The piece in progress.

Grass Piece in Progress

The cut grass project has 150 bound pieces:
75 (5 bound pieces over 15 columns) and 75 (3 bound pieces over 25 rows).

Grass Piece in Progress

Cut Grass Piece Detail

This is what the grass looks like in the garden today. Unfortunately, the grass that I used does not seem to be changing to the gorgeous colors like the grass left to dry naturally in the garden.
Grass in Garden

Unidentified Sprout

September 19th, 2015 I planted Bird of Paradise seeds.

Bird of Paradise Flats

I have been watering the flats, patiently waiting for some sign of life.

Then I found two very small plants emerging. Should be interesting to see what they become. Well, if they survive.

Sprout 1

Sprout 2

Can’t believe that they could possibly be Bird of Paradise. So what are they? Volunteer plants and oak trees pop up in my potted plants and gardens, thanks to the blue jays.

Now I wait. Gardening does require learning to be patient.

Brachychiton Seed Planting

Brachychiton Pods

Brachychiton Pods

Brachychiton Seeds With Fuzz

Brachychiton Seeds With Fuzzy Coating

Brachychiton Seeds Fuzz Removed

Brachychiton Seeds, Fuzzy Coating Removed

Bottles for Soaking Seeds

Bottles for Soaking, Seeds, and Smoke Primer.

Removing Smoke Primer

Removing Smoke Primer Paper

Pods and Seeds Soaking

Empty Pods. Seeds Soaking in Smoke Water. Seeds Soaking in Hot Water.

Seeds in Planting Mixes

The Seeds Were Soaked for 24 Hours Before Planting. Seeds in Planting Mixes.
One Tray for Seeds Soaked in Smoke. One Tray for Seeds Soaked in Hot Water.

Planting Mixes

Planting Mixes Used

Brachychiton Empty Pods

Brachychiton Empty Pods

Found Pods

I went to Home Depot to purchase some hardware cloth. On the way to the car I found some gorgeous seed pods just right there on the ground. A little crushed, but still beautiful.

Seed Pods

I looked around to find the source. At first I couldn’t locate the tree, but then I found loads of pods on the ground beneath a tree. Still find it odd that trees are planted in parking lots. They seem so lonely.

Seed Pods

I did a google image search to find information about the pod. Pretty sure the tree is a Brachychiton. It may be Brachychiton populneus. Need to see the tree in bloom.

Here is a little closer look at the pods.

Seed Pods

The cool thing is that I have had this pod for several years. Can’t recall where I found it. And for some reason I never identified the source of the pod.

Seed Pod

I liked the bark, boat-like pod right off. And inside there are golden seeds covered with fuzz. While reading about Brachychiton populneus, I found this information:

Wear gloves when handling the seed pods to avoid their skin-irritating fuzz.

For a few years, I was an avid gardener. Avid, as in growing most plants from seed, working in the gardens everyday and most of the weekend.

During that time I did not make much in the way of art. I kept thinking that I could not make anything as beautiful as what was growing in my gardens.

I have gotten over that. Now I spend most of my time working in the studio. My gardens have been changed, plants have been removed. And here on the California Central Coast we are still dealing with the drought.

So, how will I use the pods in my work? Don’t know. Need to spend some time with them.

Definitely, considering adding a Brachychiton populneus to my gardens. And of course I will attempt to grow one from some of the seed that I have collected.

More information about Brachychiton populneus–

Brachychiton on Wikipedia

Australian National Herbarium

Work in Progress–Accustomed to Being Invisible

Have you ever been standing in a shop looking at what is on the shelf a few feet away, suddenly someone walks in front of you, and in between you and the shelf? You step back, out of their way, because you were not seen. Have you ever walked up to an automatic door and found yourself standing there waiting for the door to open? Your presence was not recognized by a sensor. How many times have you touched your iPad screen to open an app and nothing happened? Could you be invisible?

Got to thinking about, well being invisible. And since most of the time I don’t really care if I am noticed, I started thinking about things of substance in nature that are hidden or invisible. Things that have an important function, but remain hidden to the casual viewer.

I am in the process of using plant parts that are typically hidden in my invisible series. The parts are beautiful, often with patterns imprinted on them as the result of their function in the life-cycle of the plants.

Interior Bits

These are the interior bits of Pandorea jasminoides. I collected some pods that I thought would be fun to use. When I opened the pods and removed the seeds, I found these beautiful shields.

I recently purchased a Pandorea jasminoides, specifically to harvest the pods, seeds, and other interior bits. This is the first harvested pod.

Pandorea jasminoides pod

Glycerin Mixture

The Pandorea jasminoides bits were soaked in a glycerin solution to make them more pliable and easier to stitch.

Invisible Code

Code to be used on Pandorea jasminoides bits.

Invisible Stitched

The Pandorea jasminoides bits were stitched with Alpaca Lace yarn. Each piece was stitched with a letter of the quote–accustomed to being invisible.

The current plan is to make a page with the coded pieces on one side and a bound small round mirror of the other side. I seriously thought about making knitted and fulled pages, but I am not pleased with the results, yet.

Decided to try using some embroidered pieces for the pages.

Front Page

The right side has–take notice in code. Not sure that I like it.

Back Page

Each embroidered piece is 45 squares (11.25″) wide and 58 squares (14.5″) high. The openness of the stitches is one of the reasons for using the roofing felt in between. I love roofing felt–the way it feels, smells, and looks. I started using roofing felt when I was investment casting. Some of the roofing felt that had been used in the casting process had lovely plaster stains. I liked the used roofing felt so much I used it in my Headbox series.

Blooms and Fragrance in My Gardens

Brugmansia

Blooming and Fragrant Brugmansia.

Original plant was grown from seed that I purchased from seedman.com .This plant is a cutting from the original plant. The plant needs to be pruned often because it tends to want to grow 15 feet or taller.

Solandra maxima

This is my first Solandra Maxima. It has large gorgeous flowers that smell delicious.

I have taken numerous cuttings from the plant. There are Solandra maxima growing in several locations in my gardens.

Brugmansia

Brugs in the Garden

I removed several Brugs because of water rationing. These look slightly wilted, but the majority of the time, limited watering does not seem to be a bother. A large part of the day they are in filtered light.

Bird feeder Growing

For whatever reason this bird feeder is not attracting birds. After the rain I found sprouted seeds.

Bird feeder Sprouting

The bird feed has been taken down and cleaned.