Nature Trail 2014, A Natural Sketchbook Exchange- the beginning!

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Nature Trailer 2014 - a natural sketchbook exchange

One of the most exciting, fun and challenging projects I am involved in this year is a sketchbook exchange called Nature Trail 2014- A Natural Sketchbook Exchange. There are 15 botanical artists in the exchange, hailing from many different places- the United Kingdom, USA, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands. As the exchange’s blog explains-

“Each artists’ book will have a double page spread completed and then be posted on every month to the next artist. Subjects to sketch and paint will encompass anything to do with the natural world; for example, feathers, shells, berries, habitat landscapes and absolutely anything botanical. Also colour notes, poems, any writing that you would include within normal sketchbooks can go in, in whatever design.”

We all bought a Stillman & Birn Zeta series sketchbook for the project (5.5 x 8.5 inch/14 21.6 cm.)  The smaller size is very practical for mailing and the quality of paper and sturdiness of the hardcover make it a great choice.

How I got involved!

All this came about because of my participation in a couple of botanical artists groups on Facebook- Botanical Artists and Irish Botanical Artists. If you would like to learn more about my experience with these groups you can read about it in my last blog. Last fall I was invited by one of the members to join the exchange- her idea. All the decisions on how it would work, what sketchbook we would use, and what we would create in them, has been a very collaborative process- drawing much on the advice of several of the more experienced members of the group. Here is my January entry- which has arrived safely on the other side of the Atlantic already and into the capable hands of another Nature Trailer.

January- my first entry in the sketchbook exchange.

January was almost over before my journal was ready to go on its maiden voyage. Somehow I became a little too involved in the extra details – title page, envelopes, labels etc., This is my first time to participate in a sketchbook exchange or to keep a regular nature sketchbook so I was very excited and, in spite of the anxiety, having loads of fun.

 

Title Page

The first thing I did on receiving my sketchbook was to create a title page. I hadn’t played around with hand-lettering in years so designing the page was a walk down memory lane with some new influences cropping up- reminding me that I am always changing. I used graphite pencil to create the form and texture, adding polychromos pencils last for subtle color. I started using Faber Castell polychromos pencils recently and I really like the feel of them. I’m also enjoying the Stillman & Birn sketchbook paper, both for pencil and watercolor. I don’t have that much experience with watercolor papers but I certainly do like the paper’s smoothness for graphite and color pencils.

I love textures!

The textures in the lettering were inspired by nature- leaves, lichens, tree bark, wood grain, succulents and seeds. My January page- devoted to lichens- is also a study in textures. When I picked up this lichen-covered bigleaf maple branch in our front yard I knew instantly what I wanted to do in my journal for January. I haven’t managed to identify all the lichens on this branch but I’ve made a good start, with the help of several people including some fellow Nature Trailers. Here are some of the main ones:-

Oakmoss, Evernia prunastri, Pincushion sunburst lichen, Xanthoria polycarpa, Waxpaper lichen, Parmelia sulcata, Fork-boned lichen, Hypogymnia inactiva, and Brown shield lichen, Melanelixia spp.  

January lichens.

“More things are learnt in the woods than from books; trees and rocks will teach you things not to be heard elsewhere.”     Bernard of Clairvaux

All the lichens, save the one on the very right (pincushion sunburst lichen,) are painted in watercolor. I used polychromos pencils for the pincushion sunburst lichen and the “JAN” lettering. 

“The Rules”

Because I find them so helpful (and inspiring) I decided to include a copy of St. Corita Kent’s “Rules” at the back of the journal. Numbers 6 and 7 are my favorites. One of her “helpful hints” is “Save everything- it might come in handy later.” Taking her advice to heart, I’ve copied her rules onto a piece of rice paper I’ve had for over 30 years!!

In an effort to keep the journal flat I have put the rules in an envelope that is attached to the inside back cover with a ribbon “hinge”. This is to allow it to be laid flat, out of the journal, while being used. Making the envelope and figuring out how to attach it to the journal was an adventure in itself and I could never have done it without the help of local craft shop owner and new friend Christy Wood. Learning to make the envelope was so interesting and creatively stimulating that I will write about it in a separate blog.

But in the meantime I am just delighted to have finished my first month of the Nature Trail 2014- Natural Sketchbook Exchange and I’m getting ready to start on February’s sketchbook , wonderful!

Aislinn Adams

 

 

Native Plant Appreciation Week, Month,Year?

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Western ground ginger, Asarum caudatum
© Aislinn Adams, 2011
Western wild ginger, Asarum caudatum

Gardening with Native Plants.

I love gardening with wild flowers- or native plants as they are more accurately named. Long before I decided to return to college to study horticulture, I was interested in gardening with wild flowers. This has meant that no matter where I live I grow the native species of that area. Since moving to Oregon, nearly 13 years ago, I have happily discovered that many of the native plants from this part of the Pacific Northwest have long been residents of Ireland and the U.K. Thanks to such plant collectors as David Douglas and Archibald Menzies, and a corresponding rainfall, many of the native plants from the Pacific Northwest thrive in the moist, temperate conditions of the British Isles and Ireland.

Native Plant Time!

If you are interested in native plants and live in the Pacific Northwest this is a very exciting and busy time of year. Between April and May there are many local events organized to help you get up close and personal with the native flora. Here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon we have plenty to choose from – wildflower festivals, native plant guided walks and native plant identification classes. If you want to learn more about the native plants in your area- from the showy and colorful to the weird and wonderful- now’s the time. To help you find the right activity here are some links, below, for events in this region but if you search for your own state native plant society or a different native plant organization where you live I’m sure you will find similar information.

Native Plant Appreciation Week.

For me every week of the year (nearly) is native plant appreciation week but spring is one of my favorite times to really admire the beauty and variety of these plants – both in the wild and in my own garden. Many states celebrate Native Plant Appreciation Week (NPAW) around mid-April to early May. Here in the Pacific Northwest the Oregon, Washington and Idaho Native Plant Societies will be celebrating NPAW from April 28- May 4th. Click these links below to find out about the different events they are organizing.


Native Plant Society of Oregon’s list of wildflower festivals

http://www.npsoregon.org/wildflowers.html

Washington Native Plant Society’s Native Plant Appreciation Week Events.

http://www.wnps.org/chapter_info/chapter_programs.html

Idaho Native Plant Society of Idaho NPAW

https://www.facebook.com/events/407168246047518/

Native Plant Identification Classes.

If you live in the Salem, Oregon area you can attend a Native Plant Identification class that I, and fellow Native Plant Society of Oregon member John Savage, will be teaching at the Straub Environmental Learning Center. For dates, time and other details go to this link- http://fselc.org/event-calendar/

Aislinn Adams

The Oregon Fawn Lily, Erythronium oregonum and its many names.

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Oregon Fawn lily- Erythronium oregonum
© 2011 Aislinn Adams
Oregon Fawn Lily, Erythronium oregonum.


The Fawn lily, Erythronium oregonum, and its many common names.

Erythronium oregonum has many common names- giant white fawn lily, Oregon fawn lily, dog’s tooth violet, trout lily, adder’s tongue, lamb’s tongue. Maybe this is why the Historic Deepwood Estate here in Salem, Oregon- where I live- has chosen the scientific name for their annual spring native plant festival. Not wishing to confuse people with a common name that is not “common” to all, they use the scientific name Erythronium (pronounced, err- ih-throne- ee-um.) Personally I find it much more useful to use the scientific name for the same reason. Never underestimate the creativity of humans to come up with interesting and numerous common names for one plant, and though they are lovely, ultimately they are rather confusing, especially when trying to communicate which plant you mean to someone.

My first fawn lily, Erythronium oregonum.

Erythronium oregonum was one of the first bulbs I planted in my own garden when I moved to Oregon many years ago. It has since seeded itself throughout my front yard, totally ignoring all my efforts to corral this charming spring bloomer into an attractive sweep of creamy yellow. It was one of these flowers that I used for my botanical illustration above, and inspired me to create my Pacific Northwest Native Plant Greeting Card Series.

The fawn lily and early plant explorers.

When I first saw this beautiful fawn lily here in the Willamette Valley I assumed it must have been collected by Lewis and Clark or David Douglas in the early 19th century. This is not the case. The first fawn lily to be described from this part of the world, pink fawn lily, Erythronium revolutum, was collected by Archibald Menzies in 1793 and described by James Edward Smith in 1809. Then in 1806 the fawn lily’s mountain “cousin” the glacier lily, Erythronium grandiflorum, was brought back by Lewis and Clark (Lewis called it a dog’s tooth violet in his journal) and described by Frederick Pursh in his Flora Americae Septentrionalis in 1814. (for more on the collection see my blog  The saga of the Lewis and Clark Plant Collection and the Irish nurseryman Bernard McMahon’s unwitting role in its fate!.) The glacier lily, Erythronium grandiflorum, also has other common names including yellow fawn lily and yellow avalanche lily.

The common fawn lily, Erythronium oregonoum, erroneously mis-identified.

It wasn’t until 1935 that the more common fawn lily, Erythronium oregonum, was finally described by the Oregon botanist, Elmer Applegate. As is often the case with plant exploration and identification, the story is not that straightforward. According to Applegate “for nearly a century this familiar plant has been known erroneously as Erythronium giganteum Lindl. or as Erythronium grandiflorum var. albiflorum.” ( Kalmiopsis Vol. 10 2003. Native Plant Society of Oregon.) So maybe my assumption wasn’t so far off the mark. Is it possible that some of the Erythronium grandiflorum bulbs collected by Douglas (April, 1826 and 1827) may have been Erythronium oregonum after all?

Elmer Applegate and David Douglas.

There is a tenuous link of a different kind between Applegate and Douglas. Applegate’s wife Esther Emily Ogden was a niece of Peter Skene Ogden (the well-known fur trader and chief trader with the Hudson’s Bay Company.) Douglas met Ogden August 30, 1826 at Fort Vancouver, Washington, directly after Douglas’ exciting 12-day descent of the Columbia River from Fort Colville in eastern Washington. During that descent he had a lucky escape when his canoe was wrecked at the Dalles; causing him to loose the insects he had collected in the interior and some seeds, but he managed to save bulbs of the glacier lily, Erythronium grandiflorum, collected in the Fort Colville area. In April the following year, while on his journey overland to Hudson Bay to meet his ship bound for England, he collected more of the glacier lily in the same area and transplanted them in the hope of keeping them growing all the way to England. Maybe it was these particular transplants that were the first fawn lilies that he is credited with introducing into England. Now I wonder if they were all glacier lilies: if some of the Oregon fawn lilies had not been introduced into the mix also?

When I drive by the Deepwood Estate along Mission Road here in Salem and see the expanse of pale yellow that is the fawn lily, it’s hard to imagine that Douglas didn’t see them while traveling though the Willamette Valley. At any rate, it is a wonderful sight to see and, no doubt, it will be enjoyed by the many visitors to the festival next weekend- Friday and Saturday April 5 and 6. For more information about the festival click here- http://historicdeepwoodestate.org/historic/estate/calendar_events/2013/04/05/  I am delighted to say that my cards will be on sale at the festival also.

Aislinn Adams