botanical art

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Awkward Botanical Sketches #3: The Ginkgo Edition

For most of my life, ginkgo has been a meaningful tree to me. I remember first learning about it as a fourth grader. Our teacher had assigned us each to make a leaf collection. My grandparents heard about my assignment and sent me a ginkgo leaf from a tree growing in their front yard. It was unlike any other leaf in my collection, and it had a fascinating back story. Not only is it the only living tree in its genus and family, it’s also the only extant species in its division (Ginkgophyta). It was around during the time of the dinosaurs, and is considered a living fossil. I felt honored to have it, especially when I learned that I was the only kid in the class that had one.

Since then I’ve considered Ginkgo biloba to be one of the best trees. It continues to fascinate me. It’s a beautiful tree with captivating foliage, and it’s resiliency is amazing. It’s no wonder that depictions of ginkgo are so common across many cultures.

Since I love looking at ginkgo leaves, I decided to try to draw them. If you’ve been following this series of posts, you’ll remember that my drawing skills are severely lacking. A shape as simple as a ginkgo leaf should be easy to draw, but not for me. I resorted first to tracing leaves that I had pressed, and then going from there. Below are some of my results.

Ginkgo biloba leaf rubbing inspired by a page in Gayla Trail’s book, Grow Curious. After several attempts, this was the best I could do.

Finally, a freehand drawing of a cluster of ginkgo leaves in my pocket notebook in celebration of Staple Day.

Some ginkgo leaves I mailed to the Smithsonian for their Fossil Atmospheres research project.

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Party Time for Puncture Vine, Year Two
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Party Time for Puncture Vine, Year Two

A noxious weed brought Boiseans together for the second year in a row. After a successful inaugural year, the Boise Goathead Fest returned to downtown Boise, Idaho on the 2nd and 3rd of August. The festival’s namesake comes from a particularly destructive weed whose spiky fruits are notorious for puncturing bike tires. Known commonly as goathead or puncture vine, Tribulus terrestris is abundant in the Treasure Valley and the bane of area bicyclists. Organized by the Boise Bicycle Project and other bike-centric non-profits, Boise Goathead Fest is a celebration of bike culture, as well as an opportunity to spread awareness about this problematic plant.

goathead-themed art

For the two months leading up to Goathead Fest, Treasure Valley residents were encouraged to pull as many goatheads as they could get their hands on. Those who took on the challenge were rewarded with tokens to be redeemed at the Fest for drinks or ice cream. Trophies and prizes were also presented to those who pulled the most goatheads over the two month period. This effort resulted in thousands of pounds of goatheads being removed from the area, saving bicyclists from countless flat tires and slimming down puncture vine’s extensive seed bank.

scale for weighing goathead collections

After two months of collecting goatheads, it was time to celebrate. The two day long party consisted of live music and DJs, a huge bike parade around downtown Boise (for which participants were encouraged to decorate their bikes and wear costumes), and a variety of other bike-themed and non bike-themed activities. Goathead education continued during the Fest with the help of folks from Ada County, City of Boise, Idaho Botanical Garden, and others.

A peak inside the Ada County Weed, Pest, and Mosquito Abatement education and outreach trailer

Goathead coloring page created by Wendy of Idaho Botanical Garden

Puncture vine pennants created by Anna of Idaho Botanical Garden

With all of this attention and awareness focused on a single noxious weed, might it be possible to eliminate it from our community and free ourselves from ruined rides and trashed tires? The seeds of puncture vine are relatively short lived, and as an annual plant, seeds are its only method of reproduction. Even if we can’t altogether eliminate it, we could certainly see a dramatic reduction in its abundance and distribution. Perhaps in the future we will spend less time pulling it and more time celebrating its rarity, reflecting back on the time when punctures permeated our pedal-powered lives. Whatever the result, puncture vine has brought our community together once again. If such a loathsome weed can bring people together in celebration like this, perhaps it’s not entirely bad.

me with goathead balloon

See Also: Boise Weekly – Goathead’s the Burr, Community’s the Word

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More Urban Botanical Art

Two years ago I shared my first collection of urban botanical art photos. Since that time I have collected several more. I had hoped to get lots of photos during my trips out of town, and while I did manage to get a few, it turns out that my hometown of Boise, Idaho has a sizable (and growing) selection of plant-related public art. Thus, several of these are local finds.

As I mentioned in the original post, if you have photos of urban botanical art that you would like to share with me, please do so either through twitter, tumblr, facebook, or some other means.

Utility box on the corner of 13th and River Streets in Boise, Idaho

Utility box on American Legion Boulevard in Mountain Home, Idaho

Downtown Anchorage, Alaska

Downtown Anchorage, Alaska

Restrooms at the edge of Warm Springs Golf Course in Boise, Idaho. All plants represented are native to Idaho.

A plaque featuring botanical and common names accompanies each plant. 

Sculpture at Richmond Nature Park in Richmond, BC, Canada

In the Food Garden at UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver, BC, Canada

Reverse-Rebirth sculpture by Han Seok Hyun at Idaho Botanical Garden in Boise, Idaho

Paintings of flowers displayed outside of Boise Creative Center in Boise, Idaho

Utility box on the corner of Myrtle Street and Broadway Avenue in Boise, Idaho

Downtown Mountain Home, Idaho (Community Canvas of Moho)

Mural by Stephen Murphy (my dad!) in downtown Mountain Home, Idaho (Community Canvas of Moho)

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Awkward Botanical Sketches #2: The Dear Data Edition

In this special edition of Awkward Botanical Sketches, I took some inspiration from a book called Dear Data by Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec. In this book, two friends separated by an ocean chose something about their lives to collect data on every week for a year, then they exchanged the data they collected via weekly postcards. They did this by drawing out a representation of their data on the front of the postcard, along with a key to the drawing on the back. It seemed like a fun thing to do, so I decided to try it. Rather than mailing my postcards to someone across the sea, I am sharing them here.

My ability to creatively present the data I collected pales in comparison to Lupi and Posavec, but I had fun giving it a shot. Most importantly, it satisfied my quest to draw more. This first postcard is all about the weeds I came across in a week.

Weeds Identified in a Week, front side

Weeds Identified in a Week, back side

Whenever I listen to music I make a mental note of any botanical references made in the lyrics. I generally don’t do anything with these mental notes – unless, of course, I’m writing something about them (see this Botany in Popular Culture post, for example) – but this time I did. Saturday was a particularly busy day because I was listening to a lot of Ghost Mice.

Botanical References in Songs, front side

Botanical References in Songs, back side

My obvious obssesion with weeds and my intention to write a weeds-themed book someday – plus my career as a horticulturist – means that I frequently find myself involved in activities and conversations involving weeds. I wasn’t exactly sure how to track that, so this is my lousy attempt at doing so. In case you’re wondering what I was up to on Saturday (the big, blue circle), this tweet and Instagram post should help explain things.

Weeds in Conversations and Activities, front side

Weeds in Conversations and Activities, back side

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Further Reading: Review of Dear Data in The Guardian

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Party Time for Puncture Vine at Boise Goathead Fest

When the Goathead Monster revealed itself before the big bike parade at the first annual Boise Goathead Fest, it was worried that the thousands of people it saw gathered before it were there out of hatred. After all, “rides have been ruined, tires have been trashed, and punctures have permeated” the “pedal-powered lives” of pretty much everyone in attendance, and the Goathead Monster was to blame. For that reason, hundreds (perhaps thousands) of pounds of puncture vine had been pulled around Boise throughout the month of July, all in preparation for this inaugural event.

Certainly, those of us who ride bikes regularly have a sore spot for this problematic plant. Yet, we weren’t there in anger. We were there to celebrate bicycles, community, friendship, and summer, and even if it took a villain like the Goathead Monster to bring us all together, how could we be mad?

My bike decorated with a papier–mâchée goathead.

Bicycle events like this one have been a feature of summers in Boise, Idaho for years now. For over a decade, Tour de Fat was the main event, but after dropping Boise from its tour schedule starting this year, Boise (with New Belgium Brewing‘s continued support) was left to create its own thing. Boise Bicycle Project, along with the help of several other bike-centric and bike-friendly organizations, put together Boise Goathead Fest. The trappings are similar to Tour de Fat – a bike parade, along with music, food, drinks, costumes, games, and weirdness. The main difference is that this event is “bona fide Boise” … and goathead themed.

As a bicycle enthusiast, this is already my kind of event. As a plant nerd – and even more so, as a weeds-obsessed plant nerd – a noxious weed-themed festival is about as on the nose as you can get. Where else are you going to see people dressing up their bikes and themselves like a noxious weed? And where else are you going to find people who, despite their disdain for this plant (or perhaps because of it), decide to come together and celebrate? In a way, it makes me wish we could throw a party for all vilified plants, each one getting a chance to tell its story, and each one getting some time under the spotlight, in spite of the negative feelings we may have towards them.

Sierra rode in the parade dressed up as a Goat Buster.

Goathead is an easy plant to rally around. As executive director of Boise Bicycle Project said on Idaho Matters, goatheads are a “bane of bicycling, and they don’t discriminate. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, what sort of bicycle you’re riding … you’re going to get a flat tire from these things.” Perhaps other noxious weeds don’t quite have the charisma that puncture vine does – the ability to “unify everyone together” – but that’s okay. I’ll just have to find a way to celebrate each of them some other way. As it is, we now have Boise Goathead Fest, and if that means that every summer for years to come people will be donning goathead costumes and coming together to party in a positive way, what more can we ask for?

goathead art

more goathead art

The goathead monster is center stage.

bicycle-powered stage

See Also: How to Identify Puncture Vine (a.k.a. the Goathead Monster)

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Urban Botanical Art

We live on a green planet, so it is no surprise that plants frequently find their way into our artwork. They make excellent subjects after all; and arguably, botanical art can be a close second (if not a tie) to seeing the real thing.

No place is plant-themed art needed more than in urban areas. Despite trying to cram plants in wherever we can find room, our cities remain dominated by concrete, asphalt, and steel. Plants help soften the hard edges we create, and they reintroduce nature to something that otherwise seems unnatural. But there isn’t always space for plants. Botanical art is the next best thing.

When I’m not looking out for plants, I’m looking out for plant art. What follows are a few of my discoveries this past year in my hometown of Boise, Idaho and beyond. In future travels, I hope to find more botanical art in other urban areas. Meanwhile, please feel free to share with me the botanical art in your neighborhood, either through twitter, tumblr, or some other means.

Parking garage in downtown Boise, Idaho

Parking garage in downtown Boise, Idaho

My dad's mural in downtown Mountain Home, Idaho

Mural by Stephen Murphy (my dad!) in downtown Mountain Home, Idaho

Mural in Freak Alley in downtown Boise, Idaho

Freak Alley Gallery in downtown Boise, Idaho

Mural in Freak Alley in downtown Boise, Idaho

Freak Alley Gallery in downtown Boise, Idaho

Agoseris sculpture at Foothills Learning Center in Boise, Idaho

Aero Agoseris sculpture (Agoseris glauca) at Foothills Learning Center in Boise, Idaho

Stop sign in Sunset Neighborhood in Boise, Idaho

Stop sign in Boise’s Sunset Neighborhood

Stop sign in Sunset Neighborhood in Boise, Idaho

Stop sign in Boise’s Sunset Neighborhood

Utility boxes in downtown Boise, Idaho

Utility boxes in downtown Boise, Idaho

Utility box in Boise, Idaho

Utility box in downtown Boise, Idaho