Germinated or Generated?

Fractal ly Natural Photo by Richard Bartz

Quiz: Each bud is composed of a series of smaller buds, all arranged in a logarithmic spiral. Self-similar fractal forms do occur in nature. So, what do you think—animal, vegetable, mineral or from a fractal-generating software?

Answer: Link here

Photo source: Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike

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Solace

Photo by Nancy R. Peck

If you have a mind at peace,

a heart that cannot harden,

go find a door that opens wide

upon a lovely garden. 

Author unknown

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Virtual Reality at Socrates Sculpture Park

Before - Photo courtesy of Socrates Sculpture Park

Two New York City media sources recently mentioned that actress Julia Stiles was fond of the Socrates Sculpture Park.

“If you only had one day left,” the interviewer asked, “how would you spend it in New York City?” 

Now, when a park or garden ends up on someone’s bucket list, I investigate. It’s got to be special.

And here’s a case where a god forsaken lifeless place came back—and came back with vitality. Take one ugly abandoned landfill site and make it into a park. Why Not.

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Lanterns

Physalis alkekengi Photo by H. Zell

Does man imitate nature?

Lanterns Chinese New Year Photo by Daniel Cubillas

Photo source: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike

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Been Studied, Scrutinized or Stereotyped Lately?

Under scrutiny

Thought some readers might get a kick out of this find.

• Study published July, 1975 in the Journal of Clinical Psychology
• Study subjects: 37 women garden club members, age range 31 to 54
• Paper title: Effects of Drinking on the Power and Affiliation Needs of Middle-Aged Females
• Study undertaken to compare a prior male population study to a female population and to explore the effects of alcohol on the affiliation needs and power fantasies of women

It was spotted in a column written by Marc Abrahams who resurrected the study in Guardian.co.uk. Abrahams says, back in the early 70’s, the professor “monitored the unconscious motivations of 37 women before and after they imbibed alcohol at a regular meeting of their garden club. Garden clubs are a traditional American social institution – small, frequent get-togethers to exchange gossip and the occasional gardening tip.” 

Care to comment?

Now, alcohol-ism is no laughing matter, but if you come up with a limerick about this story—do share.

P.S. Readers: At the link above, see my comment below the article in response to the author.

Nancy R. Peck

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The One Billboard that Spoke to Me

Tim Simmons 'Intervention, projected' Project

Whether positioned in the calm of a pasture, or

inserted in the clatter-clutter of an urban setting,

I found this series of temporary billboards to be riveting.

Serene yet haunting—quietly prompting reflection, powerfully loud in message.

I have never approved of billboards, but these photographic art installations by Tim Simmons ‘Intervention, projected’ took my breath away. Read them and possibly weep. 

Tim Simmons—‘Intervention, projected.’

I encourage you to visit this link for more reflection and imagery. www.timsimmons.co.uk/images.php

Nancy R. Peck

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Hanging out with the Bat Flower

Bat Flower

Something about this image just said masquerade mask. See the eyes peering at me? 

The plant’s common name is Bat Flower—more officially Tacca chantrieri. It has also been referred to as Devil’s Flower. Or does it remind you of a cat with its 28-inch-long whiskers?

As a tropical plant, it prefers warm and humid climates. In the Yunnan Province of China it grows wild, and up to three feet high. If you happen to live in a southern moist United State you’d have the better luck domesticating a specimen.

Flower folklore has come up with various theories as to how it got its common name. Does it mimic a bat’s wings when spanned? Is it pollinated by bats? (Study has found it to be self-pollinating.) Further reading will offer that the flower’s common bat name comes from likening the drooping flowers to bats hanging from cave ceilings. I’ll go with that theory.

Nancy R. Peck

Picture source: Attributed to Paul Fisk, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

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Tiptoe Through the Manhole Flowers

Manhole Cover in Tokyo

Are you a manhole-cover groupie? There really is such a niche-interest group, in fact more than one.

The manhole cover pictured here was found in Ueno Park, Tokyo by Netherlands photographer Vincent van der Pas . It’s just one example of a variety of Japanese street arts and craft. Lots of the graphic imprints are in color. 

If you have an opportunity to visit Japan, see how many flower-themed covers are around upon which you can stumble.

Nancy R. Peck

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Garden Destination: Madeira Botanical Garden and More

Madeira Botanical Gardens

Madeira, Portugal. This just may displace what had been No. 1 on my fantasy trip list. One way to arrive at the Madeira Botanical Gardens is by way of cable car from the historic village of Monte situated high above the seaside city center of Funchal. The cable car crosses the Joao Gomes Stream Valley for what must be a spectacular nine-minute ride.

Also be sure to take the famed toboggan ride in Monte. No snow required. Two-seat wicker sledges glide through the winding streets on wooden runners, a throw back from the 1850s. This is one of those trust-thy-driver travel adventures. Whether on a collision course or due to being 700 meters above sea level, this just might be the nosebleed arena for me. 

Looks worth it. The Madeira Botanical Garden, also begun in the 1850’s, features an arboretum, indigenous, succulent, aromatic and medicinal plants as well as agricultural plants. Also included at the site is a park featuring 300 types of tropical and exotic birds.

The Botanical Garden is involved in the Macaronesia Seed Bank (BASEMAC) program for the sustainable conservation of plant diversity. According to their website the archipelagos of the Region of Macaronesia is one of the world’s most important centers of biodiversity, with varieties of plants unique only to this area. Half of the endemic species are threatened with extinction. The seed bank works toward conserving the genetic heritage of the islands.

Wait a minute . . . a map shows there’s the Ecological Park nearby and the Monte Palace Tropical Garden too. Oh my! What‘s on your fantasy garden travel list?

Nancy R. Peck

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Where the Buck Stops Here and the Broccoli Too

White House Kitchen Garden Harvest

Heirloom tomatoes, kale, chard, purple peppers—it’s all there. The White House South Lawn Kitchen Garden is by now growing strong. This recent Official White House Photo was shot by Samantha Appleton who seems to be the Food Initiate’s V-I-Photographer. Here—of course you recognize sleeves-rolled-up First Lady Michelle Obama—plus students from Bancroft and Tubman Elementary Schools. Hoisting pumpkins is Sam Kass who serves as Assistant White House Chef and Food Initiative Coordinator. (Now that’s a title that doesn’t roll off the tongue very easily.)

First started in late March–early April 2009, the 1100 square foot garden has by now harvested 1600 pounds of produce. Nearby, one can also find two bee hives tended by a beekeeper/WH carpenter. Last year hives yielded 134 pounds of honey. Fifty varieties of fruits and vegetables supply the First Family’s menus, leaving very healthy portions for State dinners and luncheons. About one-third of the produce goes to Miriam’s (soup) Kitchen in nearby Foggy Bottom.

While White House Gardens can more readily be seen year round, the open Kitchen Garden tours are held less frequently due to security issues. For those who can’t wait, here’s a nice 8-minute behind-the-garden-scenes video.

You can keep pace with other White House tours here.

Hmmm . . .now what happens to all that honey?

Nancy R. Peck

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Waking Up to Greener Lawn Tending Practices

Clean Air Lawn Care

Wherever you live you may have them. That is—particular sounds that let you know what particular time it is. Sanctuary bells, dogs commencing to bark when their owner goes off to work, noon factory whistles. Where I am living right now, I always know when it is 7:30 a.m. Seven-thirty a.m. is when a local institution’s maintenance person starts the engine of his leaf blowing machine. And so begins his daily rounds of re-distributing the world’s leaves. 

I’ll leave the topic of sound pollution for another day, but I was recently pleased to hear about this lawn service. Its tagline is “Changing the Way America Mows the Lawn.” Clean Air Lawn Care Company, one franchise at a time, says it “delivers an exceptional lawn care service that improves the quality of life in our communities.” The company uses tarps and rakes instead of leaf blowers. Hooray!

CEO Kelly Giard took his BA degree in Environmental Analysis and Policy, took his experience as a financial planner, went into his garage and launched this business in 2006. So far he has 27 franchise seedlings in the U.S., managing to claim that it is the country’s largest environmentally friendly lawn care service.

By day, solar panels mounted on trucks charge up mowing equipment. By night, energy derived from wind takes over. Larger mowers are run on locally produced biofuels. Fertilizer and weed controllers are organic, grass clippings recycled. The business has endeavored to be carbon neutral.  Now there are probably a number of one-man-show lawn services out there that have pursued green-smarts, but I don’t believe I’ve experienced one that uses solar panels on their trucks.

Clean Air Lawn Care Company’s website (link above) offers an enlightening matrix comparing their service to that of traditional equipment usage. Unfortunately there are too many scary contaminant stats to occupy the space allotted here. But see if there’s a franchise near you. If not, or if you are a DIY-er, check out the last section on this EPA’s link about how you can reduce lawn equipment pollution.

And tell that leaf blowing guy near you to ssshhhhush. . .if he can hear you.

Nancy R. Peck

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This Gardener Preferred Dandelions to Drawing Rooms

“I tend my flowers for thee—Bright Absentee! . . .” begins just one of Emily Dickinson’s nearly 1800 poems. She lived from 1830 to 1886 in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Locally at the time, Dickinson was perhaps best known for her gardening acumen, not as much as a poet. She was considered a bit of a recluse preferring “dandelions to drawing rooms.” But when she did pay a call with bunches of garden flowers, verse enclosed, she quipped “they valued the posy more than the poetry.”

Emily began studying botany at age 9 and amassed a collection of 424 pressed flower specimens. She had a special admiration for cultivating scented exotic flowers, writing that she “could inhabit the Spice Isles merely by crossing the dining room to the conservatory, where the plants hang in baskets.”

If, like me, you missed the New York Botanical Garden’s “Emily Dickinson’s Garden: The Poetry of Flowers” show, you can get a sense of it by linking to NPR here. Sit down, click on the recording, close your eyes (in that order) and take in some garden therapy for yourself. Once you’ve opened your eyes, there’s a little slide show for a sense of what the well-thought-out show must have been like.

Sources: NPR, Wikipedia, NY Times links here.

You also might be interested in the Emily Dickinson Museum.

“. . .Thy Daisy—Draped for thee!

Nancy R. Peck

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An A for Effort and Appreciation

Perhaps I should start a series entitled “A for Effort”.  While some of my peers promote high standards in floral presentation (which is a good thing), I tend to also appreciate it when someone simply makes an effort—however small, however novice, however random.

Take this image for example. For lack of a window sill or flower box, window bars doubled as container supports. In New York City where there is much to distract the eye, somehow I zeroed in on this endeavor. No doubt the Coleus et al was hardly viewable from indoors.  I conclude they were placed there to uplift the spirits of passing strangers.

Be it on a fire escape, around an oft-piddled curb sapling or in an airway shaft, it’s an effort.  In my book any effort gets an A—a gesture Appreciated.

Should any readers wish to share their own “A for Effort” viewings—by all means send them along.

Nancy R. Peck

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Turning Your School System into an Ecosystem

The Student Gardener

Many elementary schools have begun incorporating gardening and conservation as part of their instruction or as an extra-curricular activity. This is good news. Parent volunteers and teachers have worked hard to implement these hands-on teaching projects. For a little extra help in that department, one can refer to a book entitled Asphalt to Ecosystems: Design Ideas for Schoolyard Transformation. 

Author Sharon Gamson Danks includes 500+ photos in her book, drawing from her visits to more than 150 innovative ‘green’ schools in 11 countries. Wow. The book offers a vast range of possibilities to enhance schoolyard environments. In essence, one is bringing the field trip to the school. Danks’s advice for creating these unique landscapes also includes information about the participatory design process.  

Some schools have gone on to bring the classroom outdoors with edible gardening. Loftier projects may include orchards, raising chickens, or creating wildlife habitats for more than just insect study. Adding the arts element, some may take it further creating a garden theater. Or even a reading circle garden milieu. On a grand scale there’s always rainwater catchment systems, experimenting with renewable energy systems and finding new uses for waste materials including lunch room scraps. 

Piece o’ cake. You can have your parking lot, your ball field . . . and your ecosystem too.

Nancy R. Peck

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