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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San Francisco’s living walls

About a year ago, I reported a hairy house near the Castro and the Mission Districts in San Francisco. Since then, I’ve seen other exteriors covered in similar plant matter. Not as hairy as last year’s encounter, but striking in a similar manner. Most of these were found in my neighborhood so I’d be curious what I might discover in other parts of the city. Have fun taking a virtual tour of these plant covered buildings or see them in person. I’ve noted the cross streets below. Also, feel free to share any other ones you may come across in your city.

16th St. & South Van Ness St., San Francisco: A mosaic of plants – a work in progress?

Exterior details

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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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Happy Easter plants

Happy spring from your urban plant researchers.

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Hasselt, Belgium: the frosting on the lawn

Winter’s hit Europe. Snowy hurricane Xaver blew over Germany today, and over in Belgium, our creative co-conspirator Pablo Hannon documented frosted plants. The icing on the cake of winter.

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