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Powdery Mildew

A month ago I bought a begonia boliviensis. Very beautiful plant. I had’t even popped it in the ground yet, when I noticed the flowers were dropping. According to what I read that is not uncommon.

Begonia

Then I noticed powdery mildew. A small bit of powdery mildew can be seen in the upper most leaf. I couldn’t remember how to treat it, so I googled it. Everything I read stated that the plant should be destroyed.

I contacted a friend and he suggested:

“…a mixture of 8oz isopropyl alcohol (70%), 8oz water, 1 Tbsp Dr. Bronners Peppermint castille soap. It works really well on arthropod pests but also has a slight fungicidal effect. Fairly non-toxic to boot.”

I do love peppermint soap, so I gave it a try. Shortly after the application all of the leaves dropped.

This week I started to feel a bit positive about saving the plant. There are a few new leaves.

Begonia after treatment

The leaves appear to be healthy and clear of powdery mildew. Now I wait.


Plant Mystery–What Is It?

A few nights ago my nephew sent images of a plant that he saw on a walk in Hawaii.

Foliage and Flowers

Foliage and Flowers

Pods

Pods

Seeds and Silk

Seeds and Silk

I thought that it might be in the milkweed family, but most of the Asclepias pods that I have seen have a nubby texture.

I sent my nephew an email with my thoughts. Later I received an email from his mother and she thought it was similar to the silk cotton tree, Kapok. I checked out her guess, and noticed there were several differences.

So, I sent an email to my friend who works at the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley. And this is what he wrote–

Calotropis procera (formerly Asclepias…good call). The Kapok tree (either Ceiba pentandra or Ceiba speciosa or [Chorisa speciosa]) is quite a robust tree which has prominent black spines on the trunk, even when young.

I googled Calotropis and found this great picture to confirm the mystery plant’s identity.

Calotropis

Mystery solved!

Thanks, Bryan.



Sticks and Stones Finally Done

I spent several months deciding how to complete this piece. Attempted several borders, finally decided to make a coco fiber border. Coco fiber is pretty, but it is sharp and prickly.

Text

The piece has bundles of bound twigs used in place of Morse Code. The dots are bound to the hardware cloth vertically, and the dashes are bound horizontally. Each 4×4 square block represents one letter. And each block has a stone.

The message in the piece is: Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me?

Yep, it does have a question mark in the code.

Sketch

The piece has two layers of hardware cloth and a layer of coco fiber between.

I have included an image of the back of the piece. Even though the back can’t be seen, it still exists. Also the back piece of hardware cloth has ready made hangers.

Text

Detail of sketch showing the code and a detail of the front of the piece.

Sketch Detail

Front Detail

The finished piece is 32.5″ x 16.75″ x 2″.
Materials List: hardware cloth, stones, coco fiber, cotton fabric, wool, hemp, stones, and starch.

I am seriously considering including the materials and code layout in a small cotton pouch attached to the back for easy access.

As for signing the piece, I will use some type of stitch work. Here are some examples of previous signatures.

Signature

I have also used stitched perforated discs. The code starts from the left and spirals in. The code is in brown and tan. The rest is spacers and fillers.

Signature

They are rather nice because they are about the size of a quarter. There are a few patterns that can be used. This attempt was to be a bit willy nilly.

Back to Sticks and Stones–I need to sign it and hang it.

Miscellaneous information–the twigs are from a birch tree. Some believe that birch represents health, wisdom, and safety.

I select materials for what they bring to the work visually, but also culturally. Sometimes a material is selected because it has a connection to my personal history.

Does anyone need to know that when viewing the work? Probably not. Will knowing all of my reasons for making a work and selecting materials change how a work is viewed? Maybe…