The moon and the dahlia

So I have been a little over the top with taking photos of dahlias. Summer is over right? But these are all from one plant that has worked overtime this year, giving flower after flower. And those of you who have raised them know that unless they are staked way up high, they fall over because the tops of their heads are so heavy. Since I didn't do the staking, my house has been full of cut dahlias. But then I went out into the garden one  magical evening before a storm and found them in the full moonlight.

New vase alert

Or is it a cup? No matter. It's swell. Hey, it's supposed to be fall. Northern California gave us just a little bit more summer and then the first big rain came.

Orchid Dreams

Wild orchids painted on bamboo panels.  Have a show coming up in two weeks at Chrome Architecture in San Rafael. Seems kind of misnamed since it's such a warm, beautiful loft space.  It houses a firm that specializes in green energy projects- I mean- I guess chrome is involved somehow.... It's exciting because the space is so large that I can spread out and show a lot of work.

Green Gulch Zen Center, Northern California

A quintessential  Northern California day; fog streaming around on the coast and then sunny fifteen minutes inland. Organic gardens fill the green gulch where the the Zen Retreat Center nestles. A path runs through the garden and eventually dead ends in the ocean. It was a hard choice between this excursion and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and it didn't disappoint.

What a dahlia

Deconstructing Agapanthus

Agapanthus used to be to be a popular landscaping plant in the Northern California Bay Area.  It's easy to grow and rewards us with a big bloom of blue flowers once a year. I planted two about 10 years ago. Sad to say the flowers feel dated to me now. Flowers fall in and out of popularity.  Which  brings up the whole idea of the changing popularity of flowers and plants throughout history. Now there is an abundance of varieties from all over the world to choose from in just a plane trip (or 2 or 3) away. In our great grandmother's day, the selection was more restricted to what grew in the area or was carried; by hand, cart, wagon, and ship from place to place. What was coveted on the table and in the garden in St. Paul in the 1940's or Barcelona in the 1790's?

But as for today I decided the spent Agapathus flowers needed to be trimmed off. The flowers had dried and fallen to the ground in blue drifts. The remaining parts proved interesting.

The consensus on fake flowers? Is it even a question?

I know they are called "silk flowers" and maybe the really expensive ones are made out of silk. They are true polyester, plastic, and wire hybrids. I don't think I would ever have them in my house. They are of the antithesis of everything I love about nature and using plant materials in design. But here I am, in the business of using them a lot. We resisted using fakes in the home staging business for as long as we could. But homes sit on the market. Fresh flowers die. The long lived orchid flowers  eventually bite the dust and one can accumulate many, many orchid plants (no, really- you take this one!). So when we use fakes, we try and mix them with dried natural materials that we forage from the side of the road. Even though those are dead, they still have the echo of life. 

These arrangments show the use of fakes, dried and a combination.

Sonoma County

a small thing

My complimentary life as an artist. Cover, June-Sept. 2010

BayNature Magazine is a great natural history magazine for the San Francisco Bay area. They combine the science and poetry of examining the diversity of our landscape.  BayNature Institute leads hikes in the surrounding areas. Check them out at: baynature.org

Late Winter

Taking the leaves off camellias really changes the way they look. I was surprised how many days they lasted before turning brown.

Flowersrockscissors

 

From my very eclectic collection of vases. I kept this small arrangement going for a long time by changing and varying the flowers.

Early Summer

Jen and Tim's Wedding

For Jen's bridesmaid

Sharon and Kevin's sunflowers

 

Sharon and Kevin of Marin Nature Adventures

Sharon's sister

 Note the two differant choices of flowers with blue bridesmaid's dresses in these two weddings.