Victorville, CA: Tumbling like a tumbling tumbleweed

High winds are prevailing in southern California and the Central Coast, reports my mother in her first, eyewitness contribution to Urban Plant Research. In Santa Barbara County, she can hardly venture outside because of winds over 25 miles per hour. She also read that over in Victorville, which lies between Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert, the wind has residents trapped inside for another reason: it has swept mountains of tumbleweeds against their houses, blocking doors and windows! Check out these Google Image search results she sent over:

We here at Urban Plant Research have long been interested in tumbleweeds and urban tumbleweeds (tumbling, windblown plastic bags). Are their tumbleweeds where you live?

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Slam dunk plant near Eureka, CA by Jes McDowell

If you like oddities in urban space, plant-related or otherwise, @jesmcdowell‘s photos are for you. One of the funniest folks I know on Instagram, whom I’ve been following for almost four years now.

This is but one of Jes’s kooky finds. If anyone has an idea how this basketball hoop plant was grown/constructed, I could really use some theories.

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Plants and city scenes in Korea by Florian Bong-Kil Grosse

“When I think about my first impressions of Korea, I see before all else overpopulated, hectic, noisy cities, modest, traditional architecture side by side with the ubiquitous functional yet disconsolate prefabricated housing blocks; I see Buddhist pagodas hemmed in by 8 lane traffic arteries…” writes Florian Bong-Kil Grosse about his new book of photography, Hanguk. This thoughtful, plant-appreciating Berlin artist shared some photos on this blog last year, and now we’d like to share his new publication and other recent work.

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Berlin exhibition opens Friday with new video by Urban Plant Research

The exhibition Andere Gärten (Different Gardens) opens this Friday in Berlin and Urban Plant Research is honored to be participating with a new video, Beobachtungen/Observations. We’re especially excited about the show because it is not only about urban gardens, it will be in an urban garden! 

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A piano flowers and grows in Brighton and Hove

 

This old piano, exploding with ivy and potted flowers, stands on a sidewalk in Brighton and Hove, UK. A passing urban plant aficionado shared it with us, asking to remain unnamed. Thank you, friend!

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She came in through the bathroom window — Kauai, Hawai‘i, USA

A large green organism reached through a bathroom window in Kauai today, startling Urban Plant Research contributor Marko Förstel. The scientist, who is visiting Kauai for an academic conference, quickly snapped a picture to share with us. Further inspection revealed that the green being was a banana tree. Thank you, Marko, for sharing this cheeky Kauai resident. Bathroom visitors, beware!

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Agave blooms towering over Honolulu gardens

All over Honolulu, the Dr. Seuss-esque towers of agave flowers have been catching my eye. The spiky, seafoam-green plants are popular for home gardens here. A little research on Wikipedia suggests that this is the Mexican species Agave attenuata, which, thanks to the shape of its inflorescence, is also called foxtail, lion’s tail or swan’s neck. It is a different species that is used for tequila, the blue agave, also know as, what else, Agave tequilana.

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Berlin: Deborah gardens in a Neukölln courtyard

It was at an edible urban plants walk (led by artist Karola Schlegelmilch seven years ago) that I first met Deborah S. Phillips, an artist based in Berlin-Neukölln. Since then our paths have crossed regularly; we seem to share a lot of different interests besides plants, such as visual art and translation. After attending our plant discussion in Lichtenberg, Deborah sent this photo of her courtyard, which she’s been caring for. More about that and many other things on her blog: http://deborahsp.wordpress.com

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Lund, Sweden: winter in the botanical garden

Winter may not seem like the best time to visit a botanical garden. It’s cold, the trees look stark and leafless, and the smaller plants look, well, pathetic. But as I recently saw in Lund, Sweden, a garden in winter holds other other surprises…

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San Francisco: Ask a Plant Nerd

Real live plant nerds are offering their knowledge to the public at San Francisco’s Mission Community Market every Thursday. Asking a question is free; they also have small, affordable young plants for sale, such as nasturtiums, plectranthus…

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