Time to learn more about plants, gardens, and garden design from great resource books. This time I'm reading Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Perennials, written and edited by Ellen Phillips and C. Colston Burrell (Rodale Books, 1993, and later editions). I'm always looking for inspiration for our landscaping project and this time I'm delving into the world of perennials (plants that live more than two years). This is another of my mom's books that I received from her downsizing project. Looking at her notes in the margins, this book may have inspired the perennial border, island bed, and rock wall plantings in their Alaskan garden!
Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Perennials is presented in three main sections. Part 1: Designing the Perennial Garden, starts out with the basics of garden design, specifically focusing on perennials as the backbone of the garden, and provides a gallery of designs for inspiration. Part 2: Growing Perennials, informs the reader on climate, basic gardening, managing pests and disease, routine care, propagation, and caring for perennials. Part 3: Perennial Encyclopedia, provides a plant-by-plant guide of flowers. The back matter gives an overview on botany, plant names and key words, and provides resources, suggested reading, and an extensive index. The book is filled with beautiful photographs of gardens, plants, and plant combinations; as well as illustrations and reference tables. It is written in an approachable and easy-to-understand style that appeals to both beginner and advanced gardeners.
I've read a number of Rodale's how-to books (see Practical Formulas and No Fail Flower Garden) and really like their practical and informative approach. In Illustrated Encyclopedia of Perennials, I especially liked their gallery of garden designs using bubble diagrams, complete with plant lists and a description of seasonal interest. The designs have themes, such as "Four-Season Perennial Garden", "Sunny Perennial Border", "Fragrant Cottage Garden", "Shady Wildflower Garden", and "Simple Rock Wall Garden". The "Color Theme Garden" provides a basic bubble diagram and separate plant lists for blue or pink themed gardens. The Perennial Encyclopedia is filled with easy-to-grow perennials with descriptions, photos, and information about their growth habits and landscape uses. I liked how the books calls out information for the Southern and Western regions of the United States, where climate has a bit impact on local gardens. I also like how the book emphasizes foliage and seasonal interest, as well as beautiful flowers. I highly recommend this book to use for reference and inspiration!
Alaskan perennial border of astilbe in late summer, against a spruce hedge (possibly inspired by this book)
This year we're learning all about dyeing with indigo and trying it out for ourselves. Last time we used our indigo dye vat for basic dyeing (see Basic Indigo Dyeing). We used the Jacquard Indigo Tie Dye Kit (Natural Dye Method) to mix our dye vat. This time we are overdyeing fabric that was previously dyed with weld, cochineal or logwood. This project was filmed on the third day of a four-day dyeing session, and the dye vat had lots of color. Note that this video builds on our previous indigo dye videos, so please see them for details
Equipment
For equipment you need the indigo dye vat, water for soaking and rinsing, a tray to hold dyed fabric, latex gloves to protect hands, and prepared workspaces for dyeing and drying the fabric.
Prepare the workspace for dyeing
Preparing the Fabric
Following is the pre-dyed fabric that I’m planning to overdye:
Cotton dish towel dyed with weld (yellow)
Cotton dish towel dyed with cochineal (pinkish-purple)
Cotton tee shirt dyed with logwood (very pale purple)
All fabric was scoured and mordanted prior to the original dyeing. Indigo doesn't require mordanting because of its high tannin content. I don't know whether the mordanting is a factor in the overdye color.
Preparing fabric for overdyeing
For the dish towels dyed with weld and cochineal, I'm planning to do multiple dips, using rubber bands to mark the dip lines. The goal is to end up with a band of the original color, and bands for each of the dips – one, two, and three. For the cochineal-dyed dish towel, I'm placing the rubber band markers on the bias for variety. For the logwood-dyed tee shirt, I'm planning to dip the tee shirt twice.
Water for pre-soaking the fabric
To prepare the fabric for dyeing:
Add warm water to a bucket.
Soak the prepared fabric in water.
Squeeze out excess water and air from the fabric before submerging into the dye.
Overdyeing with Indigo
The basic steps for overdyeing:
Presoak the prepared fabric.
Dip the fabric in the dye vat.
Squeeze out excess dye.
Set aside fabric to oxidize.
Then, either:
Redip to achieve darker shades, or
Remove bindings, rinse, and hang to dry.
By now we know that these steps are iterative and flexible.
For Safety: Keep the indigo dye vat out of reach of children and animals, and store the dye with the lid sealed. Also, never use utensils that have been used for dyeing to prepare food.
Dyeing (Multiple Dips)
Next dip the fabric in the dye. You can keep the fabric in the dye vat for as long as you want. I used one-to-two-minute dips. I wore gloves to protect my hands from being dyed blue. For both weld and cochineal, I left the original color and then dipped the marked off sections once, twice and three times. This will provide a sampler of the colors that are possible with multiple or longer dips. I dipped the tee shirt twice.
First dip
Once dipped, squeeze out excess dye, then place in the tray. I left the fabric in the tray for about 20 minutes between dips. This gives the fabric a chance to oxidize.
Second dip
After 20 minutes I rinsed the tee-shirt to remove excess dye. I removed the rubber bands from the towels and spread them out to oxidize a bit more. This exposes the bunched-up fabric to oxygen to further set the color. After another 20 minutes, give the fabric a good rinse.
Exposing the fabric to the air after three dips
Hanging to Dry
The hanging projects look so festive as they dry. Colors are always darker when the fabric is wet.
Hanging to dry
Rinsing, Washing, and Hanging to Dry
After everything was dyed and dried, I ran the fabric through the washing machine using a cold cycle and Professional Textile Detergent. You could also use a mild detergent like Synthrapol. Again, I hung the fabric to air dry.
Reviewing the Results
Let's look at the outcome.
Left to right: logwood+indigo, cochineal+indigo, and weld+indigo
Weld + Indigo Dish Towel
The original weld color is a vibrant yellow. The section that was dipped in indigo once is a yellow-green. The section that was dipped twice is a darker yellow-green. The section that was dipped three times is almost an emerald green. The dipped sections have quite a bit of streaking. This is from the fabric being bunched up, preventing the dye from permeating the fabric. The rubber bands prevented dye from bonding with the fiber, so the yellow bands of color are like tie dyeing (resist dyeing).
Weld + three dips in indigo dye
I like the streaking effect and the multiple dips on this sampler. In the future, I'd like to try overdyeing to to produce solid blocks of colors.
Cochineal + Indigo Dish Towel
The original cochineal is a lovely pinkish-purple. This towel was dipped on the bias for variety. The section that was dipped once is also quite pinkish-purple but not very distinct. In reviewing the film clip, I noticed the rubber band wasn’t pulled tight, so that may be the cause. Still, the color on the sides is almost a lavender color. The section that was dipped twice is a darker purplish blue, especially on the sides. The section that was dipped three times is a deeper purple-blue. This towel isn’t as streaked as the weld-dyed towel, but it still has some interesting patterns and mottling. And again, the pinkish-purple bands of color are like tie dyeing (resist dyeing).
Cochineal + three dips in indigo dye (on the bias)
Logwood + Indigo Tee Shirt
The original logwood color of the tee shirt was a very pale purple. I dipped the shirt in indigo twice, letting it oxidize between dips. The resulting color is a pale blueberry color, but it doesn’t photograph well. It looks more like a pale blue instead.
Logwood extract 2 + two dips in indigo dye
I did the overdyeing on day three of my four-day indigo-dying weekend. The dye vat seemed to hold its own and produced some vibrant overdye colors.
In the next video, we’ll see more of the projects that we tackled when the dye vat was in its prime!
Summer evenings are fairly chilly here in the San Francisco Bay Area, but sometimes we get a short heat spell where the evenings are wonderfully balmy. Regardless of the temperature, the sunsets are fantastic this time of year (possibly due to brush fires burning nearby).
Summer Sunset at Jack London Square (photo by Rick Quisenberry)
We enjoyed this sunset recently at Jack London Square while celebrating a birthday with a large and daunting number. Hope you're enjoying some summer outings, summer evenings, and summer sunsets wherever you are!
This year we're celebrating life and birthdays with flowers, and learning more about the meaning behind birthday flowers. Birthday flowers are those associated with the month in which a person was born. Some months have two flowers assigned, often tied to the availability of certain flowers in various regions or climates. Some regions have even adopted their own birthday flowers based on climate, such as Australia, where Banksia is the August birthday flower (see Aliens From Down Under to see a Banksia).
For August, traditional birthday flowers include gladiolas and poppies. I've chosen to focus on poppies (Papaver spp.), which symbolize remembrance, imagination, and consolation. Opium poppies (P.somniferum) have been used medicinally for pain relief and sedation since 3400 BCE, symbolizing dreams and imagination. The flowers close their petals for the night and the reopen in the morning, symbolizing sleep, death and resurrection. Poppies are often given to someone who is grieving, symbolizing consolation.
Flower colors also convey meaning, which can vary by culture:
Red - in the West, sacrifice, remembrance for those who have died in war (inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields" by Canadian soldier John McCrae, written during World War I). In the East, success and love.
Yellow - renewal, prosperity and optimism
Orange - health, well being and regeneration
Pink - romantic love, non-romantic/platonic love between friends and family members, imagination, good fortune, compassion, luxury and success
White - in the West, sleep, peace, and rest. In the East, funerals, sympathy and condolence.
Blue (China and Tibet) - longevity and a symbol of the human soul's journey to enlightenment
California poppy
Poppies are known for their vibrant colors, delicate petals, and unruly stems. They are admired for their beauty, culinary uses, and medicinal properties. They can be annual, biennial, or perennial depending on the species. Flower arrangement can be single, double, or semi-double, and may have a dark center with a mass of stamens depending on the species. Poppies typically bloom late spring to early summer depending on the climate or species. They prefer full sun and well-drained soil.
Back with another gallery of shadows (and sometimes golden light). I'm always on the lookout for interesting shadow play, whether on an outside garden wall, an inside wall with a garden projection, or an interesting architectural pattern almost anywhere. This taps into what we learned in Elements of the Chinese Garden that walls are an important element of Chinese gardens for capturing shadows and displaying poetry. Enjoy this latest gallery of shadow play from everyday life.
Leaves as shadow and leaves illuminated
Plants and mini blinds on the wall
Leaves captured on a kitchen cabinet
Plants brought inside in a pool of light
Creature of the night
Architectural patterns of light and dark
Tiny shaft of light
X-ray of ribs or plants and mini blinds?
Morning light cast through the mini blinds
Japanese maple projection
Shadow and light cast on an inside wall
Many of these photos show shadows from the garden that are cast inside the house and others capture or incorporate patterns from the mini blinds. For more shadow fun see Shadow Play from last year. Shadow as art form!
