Laura goes to Washington DC

This is my first trip to DC. I know a lot of folks go to Washington in 8th grade. I’m not sure why I did not. My confession here is that I did not realize that “The Smithsonian” is, in fact, a bunch of museums and they are all free. damn! I need to bring my kid here soon.

I’m here for the APLD Conference. This is my first one and I do not know anyone here. I made my reservations with a little padding so that I can at least explore a little bit. There is so much to do and I am a tad overwhelmed and having to talk myself down from trying to do everything. I can not do ALL THE THINGS. I also do not want to discount the value of vaguely wandering. :D

My first foray from the hotel brings me to this sweet garden and bird habitat! Such luck! Lots of pictures here of plant combos and textures that caught my eye. Also, a mondo grass lawn!? It’s cute!

I went to the Natural History Museum after hanging out in this garden and then headed to the Space one. Along the way there were MORE PLANTS!

Then I went to Washington Station (I think) which is basically a mall because I wanted to go to the Moleskine store. I did buy a new notebook and a little sleeve thingy that goes over it and zips to hold a few pens.

Moving a giant-ass palm

Here I am driving along and I see this truck with a massive palm all over it! How cool to see how they are moving it. I wonder what very large crane (VLC) is waiting to put it in it’s final place!? Where is it going?

IMG_6930.jpeg

Characteristics of CA Native plants w/ APLD and Cal Academy of Sciences

I joined APLD folks to talk to people about CA native plants at the California Academy of Sciences. I like to do this sort of thing.

Here are some of the characteristics of native plants that help them conserve water:

Slivery grey leaves with little hairs reflect light help keep a plants temperature down in hot dry climates.

Small leaves help plants conserve water because less surface area means that leaf will lose less water.

Waxy leaves serve as sort of a waterproofing that reduces transpiration.

Thick succulent leaves trap and conserve water.

Look at all those adorable signs MF made! So cute!

Look at all those adorable signs MF made! So cute!

Trees for Children's Play Environments

So plant ID classes can be very challenging. I’ve got some brain differences, including mild dyslexia, and memorizing a ton of plant names AND how to spell them is almost prohibitively impossible.

I’ve managed to soldier through life and all previous plant ID classes fairly well until taking Tree ID last semester. My LAST plant ID class required for me to graduate. I swear this one upset me so much because some large percentage of the grade was going to be on SPELLING. Spelling!!?

One of the grand things about life today is that there is the internet (a series of tubes) and spell check. Dyslexic people every where rejoice! Anyway. I have a Fine Art degree! Don’t ask me to spell!

For my final project for that class I had to get away from things I am bad at that make me feel terrible and like I am failing in 3rd grade again and get back to things I am good at, like illustration. I decided that illustrating a bunch of beautiful trees would sooth my fevered soul.

And, to make it more complicated (hello ADD), I thought it would be cool to turn those illustrations in to a book. Of course, I did not complete the project. I completed enough for the class but not quite enough to finish the actual book. I used Blurb to layout and print the book even though it wasn’t finished. I can finish it another time, right?!

Here are a few of the illustrations. I drew the whole tree and then a detail.

The Blurb software is called BookSmart and it’s … just okay. The final printed book is a little paperback and is so cute!

Here is the cover and some layouts

IMG_4469.JPG
IMG_4472.JPG
IMG_4471.JPG

Fun at Tilden Botanic Garden

I really love Tilden Botanic Garden. For one thing there are about one million little bridges. And there is just a pleasing variety of microclimates and fab plants.

On our last outing there we sat around and used nature to make some tiny, ephemeral art. The second one is a nudibranch or maybe a paramecium. I realize a botanic garden probably isn't the right venue for this but I did it anyway and it was pleasing.

Lagurus ovatus

Laguras ovatusLagurus ovatus, or bunnytail, in my yard last Spring.Lagurus ovatus is highly adorable. I had it planted in a couple of containers this summer, including this old colander. Most the kids who visited my yard made a beeline for it and spent some time petting it.I like this in containers and used as a border. It self sows though, so if you don't want to see it in the next year you can trim the seed heads before they dry and blow all over the place. If you do want to see them next year let the seeds dry and then collect them.How do you store seeds?I often use old pharmacy medicine bottles.

Painting with plants

I am focusing in on plant color and texture right now.I have had the opportunity to visit the personal garden of the owners of Potomac Waterworks twice, once in the Fall and once in Spring. I mean, what a lovely garden! My inner 8 year old wants to live there with the fairies and unicorns and so does my outer 40 yr old. :)Not only is it a technically marvelous construction project but it is the most thoughtful and beautiful landscape painting I have ever stepped into.This is a watercolor painting I did based on a photo I took:

While there are many "rules" you can learn and follow around color and texture in the garden you really have to be an artist to accomplish this.

Plant combo - planter addition

planter comboLysimachia nummularia and a Coleus hybrid with a deep burgundy and chartreuse foliage. This is a nice container combo for partial shade. I would like to see it in a larger pot so that we get more of the Lysimachia spilling over and the bushiness of the Coleus balances out.Remember to pinch off the tops of your Coleus plant as it is growing to get a nice bushy shape.

The Fantastic Umbrella Factory

When I was a kid my Grandmother would take us to The Fantastic Umbrella Factory in Charleston, R.I. Hands down this was one of the things I looked forward to in the summer. It def. counts as one of my childhood landscapes.

DSC06791.JPG

It’s was a warren of little stores and walkways and plants and goats and chickens. I would buy candy (made somehow special just by being there. I think I remember buying strings of Zots and Necco wafers with only the brown ones) and I could spend my money on little chotchkies. Later on I went there as a teenager and bought vintage jewelry and clothes.

I went in 2012 with a new appreciation of the gardens and nursery.


A hike down the street

Plectranthus ciliates

Cute little Plectranthus ciliatus. This Plectranthus is a South African plant often used as a ground cover around here. It likes shade but wants a bit of sun to keep the awesome red/purple underside. It is more shrubby right here, is in part sun, part shade and seems to be thriving with little water and on a steep grade.This is our little road cut hike near our house. Actually, I can see the entrance to the path from my room RIGHT NOW. Mr. Who and I go there to inspect the state of things fairly often. Snacks can be the best part of a hike when you are 5. Especially if you have carried them in your very own backpack.

Let's talk about plants! Nicotiana and Dymondia

Early in the spring I bought a tiny four inch Nicotania alta 'Lime Green' from Annie's Annuals. I love chartreuse flowers, look how adorable these are:i forgot what sort of bean plants i planted.I have this in a pot and it grew quite quickly, is blooming prolifically, the flowers are big, and it is nicely bushy. I really love this plant and I want a couple more. The Annie's site says it reseeds itself easily so I'm going to wait to see how that goes and I'll do some seed collecting as well.This is a good plant for a kids garden, its got interesting big flowers and since it's a prolific bloomer who cares if kids pick some to make fairy dresses or potions or whatever.Dymondia margaretae - Silver CarpetI bought a four inch Dymondia thinking it would be good as a ground cover for a kid trampled, high traffic area near the hill slide. The soil here isn't sandy at all and it might be too shady a spot. This is an easy plant to propagate and I turned the 4 inch plant into like... 6 teeny plants. Once you shake off the soil it's super obvious how to gently separate it.Read up on Dymondia margaretae at the Stepables web site.