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5 x 7 oil on board. Click here to bid. Go here to see all auctions.
If you spend any time at all looking at art in New Mexico, you realize what a cliche it is to paint adobe buildings. But they are hard to resist. There's something about that wonderfully uneven, rounded surface.
This is the vacation home of a friend of a friend--we spent one night out there, painting and looking at the mountains and wondering why it is that we don't live in Taos.
5 x 7 oil on board. Click here to bid. Go here to see all auctions.
This was one of the fun, quick paintings that I did while I was in New Mexico. I just needed to use up the boards I'd bought and the paint that was on my palette, so I ran around the house looking for subjects that matched the paint I'd already squeezed out of the tube. I had lots of extra yellow, so...lemons!
5 x 7, oil on board. Click here to bid. See all auctions here.
OK, this is the first time I've ever had fun painting roses. Maybe I just needed to loosen up. In fact, this was so much fun to paint that I'm thinking about doing a series of them, all based on this still life. Stay tuned.
Oh, and by the way, I have no idea what kind of roses these are. They were all growing in my garden when I moved in. I do know that the peachy yellow rose is 'Lady Hillingdon.'
Every year these dahlias come up and I think, "What was I doing, planting these boring pinkish-white dahlias in a garden that's supposed to be all orange and red and purple?" In fact, they were probably mislabeled, because I have never been a pale pink kind of gal.
But then enough of them bloom at once that I can cut five or six and do this with them. Damn.
And so, having earned their keep for another year, they're allowed to live. So what if they don't match the rest of the garden? Color schemes are overrated, anyway.
I'm off to Buffalo, NY this weekend for a real whirlwind of events. The main attraction is GardenWalk Buffalo, a very cool, laid-back garden tour featuring over 200 gardens, all within walking distance.
The other main attraction is that all four of us GardenRanters are going to meet up (it's our first time to all meet in person) and several of our GardenRant readers are going to show up as well. If you're in the neighborhood and want to stop by, go here for details.
And finally, I'll be at Talking Leaves bookstore at noon on Saturday, so please do stop in and say hello.
8 x 10, oil on clayboard panel. Click here to bid.
The first of the New Mexico paintings. These were all quick, simple paintings--they had to be, as I was painting outdoors and the light changed quickly! This is my friend's Nambe vase and the yellow rudbeckia wildflowers that grew in her backyard. This was my first time to paint on this black clayboard--I love letting that black come through the background. I'll definitely experiment with that again!
I've been slowly working on getting some of my garden columns and articles online. It's a work in progress, but you can check it out here. I'll keep adding to it.
In particular, I've had many requests from florists who did not read the Valentine's Day op-ed I wrote for the New York Times about the value of flower shops to society. (Florists were a little busy on February 14, naturally.) I'm a little late responding, but here it is--read the complete op-ed online.
In honor of Lady Bird, a flower that is impossible to resist: the lupine. She favored the Texas bluebonnet, Lupinus texensis, which blooms all over my native state thanks to her efforts. But there's more to lupines that bluebonnets.
The lupines in this photo, which I took at Pike Place Market in Seattle, are probably the 'Russell' hybrids or the 'Band of Noble' series. They're bred just for the cut flower industry, and they're a little fussy, so it can be frustrating to grow them in a garden. (OK, they're frustrating to grow in my garden. Maybe they grow like weeds in your garden!)
Here in California, the yellow bush lupine L. arboreus is gorgeous, but it gets invasive outside of its range. It's a beloved native plant a few hours south, but here in Humboldt county, we try to eradicate it from fragile ecosystems.
The lupine to grow here in California is the native Lupinus albifrons, or 'Silver Bush Lupine.' It's a lovely silvery shrub with purple spikes; you can order it through Annie's Annuals.
Lupines are in the bean and pea family, and like their edible cousins, they fix nitrogen in the soil. Some gardeners plant them with a special inoculant, Rhizobium lupini, that encourages that nitrogen fixing relationship, but if your nursery doesn't have it, just plant the seeds. Like peas, lupine seeds can be tough; it helps to nick the seed coat with a knife to encourage germination. If you're buying them as seedlings or potted plants, choose plants that are not rootbound and then try not to disturb the roots when you put them in the ground.
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center offers a plant database with 53 different lupines. Check it out; there's bound to be one that grows in your backyard.
And go here to listen to my NPR commentary about Lady Bird on All Things Considered.
OK, the schedule for the rest of the summer is finalized. If you're in one of these cities, drop by and say hello, and check the Events page for the full listing through next year.
Thursday, July 19, 4:30 Sunday, July 22 Time TBA Saturday, July 28 12 noon Thurs, Aug 9 Saturday, August 11 1-2 Saturday, August 25 2:00
Filoli Gardens
Discussion & Booksigning, with reception to follow
Woodside, CA
Discussion & booksigning
Sun Valley Floral Farm
Arcata, CA
Discussion & booksigning
Talking Leaves Bookstore
Buffalo, NY
Redwood Writing Project
Nonfiction writing workshop--registration required
Humboldt County, CA
Lecture & booksigning
Missouri Botanical Garden
St. Louis, MO
Discussion & booksigning
Humboldt County Public Library
Eureka, CA
I first encountered Catherine Ziegler's work when I was doing research for Flower Confidential. She was doing some interesting research about commodity chains, consumer preferences, and communication within the global flower trade. Now that research is available in book form: Favored Flowers: Culture and Economy in a Global System has just been published by Duke University Press. (You can ask your local independent bookstore to order it for you, or order online here.)
I had a chance to read the manuscript before it went to press, and I found it fascinating--she dug up some interesting history, particular around the New York area, and she brought a very scholarly and thoughtful perspective to the ways in which this complicated industry fits together. It is an academic work, filled with theory and statistical analysis, but if you're in the flower industry, it belongs on your bookshelf.
Ziegler offers some interesting insights about the different ways this industry functions around the world and where it might go next. She points out where and how people in this business share information to their advantage, and where an aura of secrecy -- about pricing, availability, customer preferences -- either provides a competitive advantage or holds the whole industry back. Anyone who has worked in the floral industry on any level will be fascinated by her perspective. (Oh, and you'll see plenty of familiar names, too.)
Change is good
