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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How to eat weeds in Hawaii

Oahu-based public artist Gaye Chan once told me and Marko that we were part of her lost tribe. If by that she means we are into Free Stores, foraging free food, and eating weeds, then yes, we are!

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UPR has relocated to the tropics!

Reading up on the new flora and environs at the public library. Stay tuned for more soon!

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Berlin-Lichtenberg: playground for plants. Observed by Martin.

Lichtenberg native Martin Hill writes that he just rediscovered this playground in his district on the corner of Friedenhorster Straße and Splanemannstraße. He explains that it dates back to East German days and is now beautifully overgrown — once in awhile, the plants will be cut back, only to be forgotten and left to cover the area once again. Once again, thanks for a lovely contribution, Martin!

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The Giant Thistle of Neuruppin, Germany

Looking down into the vacant lot from the roof of the relative we were visiting in Neuruppin, we were all amazed to spot a breathtakingly enormous thistle plant towering in one corner. After doing some research, we decided it could be a Scotch thistle.

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Tagebuch unserer Residenz (Diary of our Reisdency), Lichtenberg Studios

(For the English version, click “read more” and scroll down)

Forschungs-Spaziergänge am See, um den Bahnhof Lichtenberg, in Parks und in einem Friedhof. Unsere Woche als Künstlerinnen in Residenz in Lichtenberg Studios war unglaublich voll und ging zu schnell zu Ende. Am Freitag, ein paar Tage vor der Abreise, haben wir zu einer Kunstveranstaltung und Prämiere eines Kurzfilms, der in diesem kürzen aber intensiven Zeitraum in Lichtenberg entstanden ist, die Öffentlichkeit eingeladen.

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A Lichtenberg Herbarium

While walking nearby the Lichtenberg S-Bahn station today we wondered at the abundance and variety of wild blooms and came home with a notebook full of pressed plant specimens. We’ve been seeing this common daisy blanketing green spaces (both planned and rogue) throughout the borough.

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Collecting specimens in Berlin-Lichtenberg

Berlin is in full bloom. Spring started early this year, so now, in mid-May, we are finding the city’s green spaces and empty lots covered in foliage, wildflowers and interesting weeds. On yesterday’s walks (to forage elderflowers near the residency studio, and later exploring Karlshorst with its allotment gardens and green spaces around the racetrack), we found ourselves interested in the specific plants we encountered, and collected some specimens.

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San Francisco: moss grows on a rolling bike

Ever seen an old bicycle, repurposed as a planter, in a quaint grandmother’s garden, with pots of trailing vines attached to every available spot? These little grasses and weeds seem to aspire to the same romantic arrangement. Props to eagle-eyed Ms. Hustrulid, who just spotted this amazing interaction between sidewalk flora and sidewalk paint in San Francisco. For more of her photos, please visit her Instagram feed: @glovecompartment.

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El Palmar: village plant research

Spring on Spain’s Costa de la Luz (the Atlantic part of the coastline) is an explosion of wildflower blossoms, from red poppies and yellow-and-white daisies to purple thistles and blue borage. I plucked a few while staying in the dusty little village of El Palmar to study more closely.

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