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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This Sunday: last chance to see our art in a Berlin park

For a few more days, deep in Berlin’s Neukölln district, you can find an entire exhibition full of art about urban gardens and plants. And the gallery is in an urban oasis, a sunken garden with fountains, lawns and flowers.

Do stop by Körnerpark if you are in town and see Urban Plant Research exhibiting alongside other botanically-inclined artists. The closing reception at 5pm on Sunday, October 11, will include a tour guided by the curator and several of the artists. We sadly cannot be there in person and hope you will represent us if you are in Berlin!

Image from Galerie im Körnerpark’s Facebook page, © Nihad Nino Pusija, 2015.

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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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Denver plants don’t mind the gaps

Hollyhocks and few other plants are thriving in the tiny gap between the buildings and sidewalks of Denver (though a few look like they’ve been pruned).

Min Li Chan of San Francisco send this photo-report from her travels to the RiNo arts district, which she described as “an industrial area turned hipster art neighborhood, not unlike Williamsburg five years ago.” Perhaps we should compare Brooklyn plants to Denver plants?

Thank you to Min Li for stopping to observe some urban plants and share them with us!

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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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Right through the fence: disruptive plant in San Francisco

 

This fenced-in plant “looks like it wants to escape its enclosure,” writes Megan Mock, who wrote in response to our post on a banana tree invading a bathroom.

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Aggressive orchids on Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i

So this is what can happen when orchids aren’t confined to a pot. At the home where I recently stayed in Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, the palm tree in the front yard was completely wrapped in the roots of these orchid plants.

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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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