Human Flower Project

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Wildflowers from El Pais de Poetas

As spring begins in Northern Chile, Alain de Trenqualye shares the wildflowers of his homeland.

Ochagavia litoralis (Calilla) at Playa Tuman, Chile
Photo: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Chile is the longest, skinniest nation in the world: the Andes Mountains running down the east, a narrow central valley where most of the Chilean people live, and to the west, 3000 miles of Pacific coastline. This variation in moisture, latitude and altitude makes for huge floral diversity which (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) is avidly documenting. The strange, effulgent bloom of Ochagavia litoralis first knocked us over the head and we’ve been looking at Alain’s Chilean Flora all morning.

He writes, “Had you seen or heard about the Ochagavia litoralis before finding it on my page?” Heavens, no, Alain—not even in our dreams.

“Here in Chile very few people have seen it. I just recently found it (Feb 2006), and learned through the web that it is cultivated in some European countries near the sea. Revealing our underdeveloped nation status, I think that not many people here grow it or even care about it.” All the more reason why your Human Flower Project is exciting and important—though, of course, Chileans are not the only folks unaware of the flowering bounty around them. We have that problem in the U.S., too.

Alain recommends this site about Calilla (as it’s known in Chile) by Uncle Derek. To our very non-botanist eyes, this amazing plant looks like a cross between a teddy bear, a cactus and a pizza.

Wildflower season, “is just beginning in Chile,” Alain reports, “being at its height in September-October in our sunny North, and moving south until December. But you can find Calillas even in February,” which is when he snapped this giantess in Playa Tuman.

“Every two or three years, when the desert around Copiapo receives a minimum amount of rain, we are able to witness the ‘Desert Flowers in Bloom’ phenomenon, or Desierto Florido as it is locally known. You can find an excellent introduction here.” One of the authors of that intro, Michael O. Dillon—Chair & Curator of Flowering Plants, Department of Botany, The Field Museum—spent several months in Chile this summer and presented a number of lectures in Santiago, Alain says.  “He told us that the word sacha that he chose for his site is the local name for ‘tree’ among some tribes near the Amazon, sacha sacha’ meaning forest. They called himself ‘sacha gringo,’ the American man fond of trees.”

Azulillo at Playa Blanca, Chile
Photo: A. de Trenqualye

By the same token, we might call you “the flower man,” Alain. One especially fine aspect of your photos is that so many manage both to show us wildflowers in detail and to give a sense of the larger landscapes where they grow. And what landscapes these are! Check out the Cerra Mirador or how about this view: a delicate Pasithea coerulea (azulillo) overlooking the Pacific at Playa Blanca.

For Norteamericanos, Alain’s site has wonders aplenty: check out Zorro’s ear and for you orchid enthusiasts, how about flor de bigote with little green warts in its mouth.

We must add that our outlook on Alstroemeria has been forever changed by seeing this Chilean native in the wild. Here are just two photos of about a score.

Many thanks, Alain. Let the spring show begin!

 

 

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Hogweed - Flower of the Cold War

It’s lacerating, it’s impotency-producing, it’s invasive… It’s Giant Hogweed!!

Taking the measure of hogweed’s bloom
Photo: King County, Washington

Who’d have guessed that a relative of carrot and Queen Anne’s lace could sterilize goats and scar the faces of children?

This season’s floral horror tale may be found in E.O. Torriero’s fine article about Heracleum mantegazzianum, a.k.a. Giant Hogweed. With blooms big around as doilies and stems stout at sewer pipes, the plants grow to be 15 feet tall. Acquisitive gardeners of a century ago are to be forgiven their eagerness to bring this flowering giant back home, but in doing so they opened a Pandora’s box of lacerating problems.

“It causes burns and bubbly blisters on legs and arms of people who come into contact with its sappy juice. It leaves folks crazed with itching. Discoloration on the skin can last a year.” It’s also the devil to get rid of. Torriero reports that hogweed is even interfering with plans for London’s 2012 Olympics as, by fire, blade, and herbicide, groundskeepers fight back plants that have overrun competition sites. One hogweed plant produces 10-20 thousand seeds each season, so they better make quick work of it, or introduce a new Olympic sport.

Invasive plants near Seattle
(hogweed noted in green)
King Co. Noxious Weeds Map

Giant hogweed has been a harrowing nuisance in Michigan where, if you spot one of these botanical Yeti, the state ag department asks that you phone its Hogweed Hotline: 800-292-3939. Things are worse in Washington—and if you think we’re whistling parsnip, then download this big ol’ Hogweed Factsheet from the state and check out the map at right. There are more stands of giant hogweed than coffehouses in Greater Seattle.

Where was this monster born? From its native Caucasus Mountain, we learn, it was introduced to botanical gardens in England, New York and Vancouver, and after putting on grand displays there spread among private ornamentalists as a mammoth conversation piece. Little did these gardners know the talk would turn to shrieks!

Especially intriguing is this excellent story by Peter Walsh from The Baltic Times. He reports from Riga on the animosity Latvane (as Giant Hogweed is known locally) has incurred. Russian ag scientists brought the plant to Latvia in 1968. “The original idea was to use the plant for cow feed because of its high sugar content, according to Kaspars Goba, a farmer and biologist who recently made a documentary film about the Latvane.

“The plan was to cut and grind the plant, store it in silage where it would ferment, and then feed it to the cows in winter. But the problem was the cows didn’t actually like it. Although its sugar content was high, it was still very bitter to taste.” Even hogweed honey, we learn, has a peculiar flavor - sweet and horribly bitter.

The Soviet system, whose science introduced the invader, was able to contain it for awhile with state labor “through a sort of annual culling ritual. Hundreds of people would dress up in plastic clothing to protect themselves from the plant’s acidic sap and hack away with machetes so that the Latvane was at least unable to produce any seeds and spread further. But the situation worsened with the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early ’90s. Agriculture virtually ground to a halt for many years, and the plant was left to flourish.” In the late 1980s, latvane filled about 120 hectares. “Today it occupies more than 13,000 hectares of the (Latvian) countryside.”

Herbicides are effective against Heracleum mantegazzianm, but in Latvia the plant has now spread into national forests, areas where such toxins, with good reason, can’t be used lest they kill off fragile plants and rare animals.

In the U.S., Giant hogweed is a noxious invader of the northern states: May the gardener beware. But in Latvia it’s part of political history, too—a burning reminder of Soviet incursion and a hostile Human Flower Project still.

Monday, August 14, 2006

A Woman’s Glory

Sandy Ao finds that in Hyderabad, femininity still wears a flower in her hair.

Black hair, white blossoms—Hyderabad
Photo: Sandy Ao

Our lucky day arrived several months ago, when we first heard from Kolkata (Calcutta) photographer (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Whether attending church or taking the bus, walking under a bridge by the river, or passing a roadside shrine, Sandy has an eye for flowers. On recent trips to see relatives in Hyderabad, Sandy has spotted and documented the enduring custom of women adorning their hair with flowers.

“In a city like Kolkata, ladies don’t have the habit of wearing flowers in their hair any more,” Sandy wrote back in June. “They consider it a rural habit!” Hyderabad, with 7.5 million people, hardly qualifies as “backcountry,” but it does appear that the flower-wearing custom is stronger in South Central India than elsewhere. Could it be that, as in the U.S., India has a geographic heartland, more traditional than the nation’s coasts?

A.B. Sudheendra’s article in the Hindu from last November confirms Sandy’s observation. “For the children of the Nineties, flowers are in vogue, but only if they stay in well-packaged bouquets or beautiful vases. Wearing flowers is, with very few exceptions, a no-no.” This piece suggests that the difference is generational rather than regional, the twenty-somethings of India opting for more Western styles. One young woman interviewed said flowers in the hair were “too gaudy.” A young man exclaimed, “It isn’t cool!”

We suppose that floral headwear has gone the way of the American corsage. As clothing styles become more unisex and casual, the femininity and glamour of floral accessories look out of place. Where do you pin an orchid on a turtleneck sweater or, egad, a t-shirt?

In Hyderabad
Photo: Sandy Ao

“Traditionally, flowers had both an aesthetic and a medicinal function — helping to keep away lice and adding to one’s charm. Dr. Anandprakash Ghorpade, a psychologist, explains that they served even as aphrodisiacs in earlier times.” Agreed, there’s something very “uncool” about aphrodisiacs and the sentiments they arouse. Blogger Desipora writes lovingly about this custom but with that whiff of nostalgia that, too, suggests, the flower coiffure may be disappearing. As Indian women adopt shorter hairstyles, floral garlands may be harder to rig. There’s something about a chignon, braid and long black tresses that invites a crown of blossoms.

We came upon this discussion of just HOW one appropriately wears flowers in India. “I saw a beautiful flower and picked it to tuck it in the hair above my ear. One of the locals ran up to me and advised me not to do so as wearing a flower in my hair that way signals to men that I am loose and ready to accept their sexual advances.” It seems the women of Southern India prefer garlands of flowers. Threaded onto strands, they shimmer like jewelry, though no pearl necklace or coral brooch could match the glory of flowers.

In Kolkata, Sandy writes, only married women “are allowed to wear flowers in their hair,” but in the South women of all ages enjoy this practice. Sandy noticed one small girl at a Christian church service Sunday in Hyderabad wearing a strand of jasmine flowers, so fragrant “they filled the whole hall!”

A young lady with floral adornment
Hyderabad, India
Photo: Sandy Ao

“During evening the flowers are fresher, so many ladies will prefer to wear the flower during evening,” Sandy writes. “They wear the flowers without restriction. The rich or the poor, the old and the young simply love having flowers in their hair!” Blossoms may appear in bigger bunches during festival seasons, but it seems the girls and grandmas of Hyderabad wear their flowers every month of the year. May we say, more power to you!

One of The Human Flower Project’s reasons for being is our sense that floral customs, as well as being beautiful and meaningful, are changing all across the world. So it is with joy and gratitude we present the insights—verbal and photographic—of Sandy Ao from India. Here in full view is one of the oldest, most extensive and dynamic flower cultures on Earth.

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Outgrowing Ledger

We’re overjoyed to post a report by our favorite writer and person, Bill Bishop. Ordinarily, Bill writes about politics, economy and society from a non-floral perspective. His book on political segregation in the U.S., forthcoming from Houghton-Mifflin, should precede the 2007 dahlia crop. THOONXX, Bill!

One of Windle Young’s thirty varieties of dahlias
ready for Decoration Day
Photos: B. Bishop

By (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

It’s not like there isn’t plenty of room for a flower garden in Ledger, North Carolina (Population: too few to bother counting). Windle Young put his dahlia bed on the side of Highway 226 so that it would be in easy reach of those headed to the family graveyards that dot Mitchell County. On the cemeteries’ Decoration Day, folks here know to ask Windle if it’s okay to pick some flowers for the graves. Young invariably says yes and so having his collection of 30-some-odd varieties of dahlias on the side of the road is handy. Besides, Windle Young knows his highly visible dahlia flock is a “conversation piece.” The tall splash of color that springs upon drivers cutting through Western North Carolina is, indeed, something to talk about.

Windle Young started his dahlia collection about fifteen years ago. Young was a justice of the peace in Mitchell County for a quarter century. He issued warrants, made arrests and conducted more than 300 weddings. Since nearby Tennessee had a three-day waiting period on marriage licenses and North Carolina had none, quite a few of the weddings involved Tennesseans who, as Johnny Cash described them, were “hotter than a pepper sprout.”

Windle Young and granddaughter Nicole
August 8, 2006

Young is retired now but at 68 still works at his son’s towing service in nearby Bakersville. He’s not the kind to sit around while at home, so he began his dahlia garden just across from an Exxon station that, as evidenced by the constant squealing of tires, appears to be a favorite of the teen pick-up truck crowd. He pulls his dahlias after the first frost and stores them in a “cool, dry place” until he plants them again at the end of April. One dahlia hill can be split into four for replanting. When he wants to try new varieties, he orders bulbs from Swan Island Dahlias in Canby, Oregon. 

Young got into the business of supplying flowers for Mitchell County graveyards because of a peculiar local custom. In most of the U.S., Decoration Day is Memorial Day; in many counties (particularly in the South) people take this occasion to decorate family graves or graveyards. In Mitchell County, however, every graveyard or church schedules its own Decoration Day. (The Young family graveyard celebrates the first Sunday in September.) “It’s just a tradition that has been handed down through the years,” Young surmises.

Decoration Day demands decorations and so people naturally got interested in Young’s dahlias when they made their glorious appearance on the side of Hwy. 226. Young gives his flowers away (and in polite Mitchell County, people are sure to call ahead of time to ask permission to clip). Dahlias last a long time so they are perfect for the drawn-out Decoration Day season here.

Windle Young will take his dahlias to his Decoration Day in a few weeks. In the meantime, he gets more earthly pleasures from his labor. People stop by every few days to ask about the garden. He enjoys talking about his plants and even gave us a few tomatoes he had grown strategically on the back row of the dahlia patch. (Pick-your-own service could get out of hand, after all.) And he gets to see his (and God’s) handiwork every day, not just when it comes time to decorate the resting place of the dead. After all, Young explains, “I’d rather enjoy my flowers now, while I’m living.”