Chihuly Glass, Conservation, and Desert Landscapes
Hippo and I have been hanging out in the living room this evening, me reading a philosophy text on the fundamentals of logic, and Hippo snoozing nearby. Every now and then, one of us will jump in surprise as another Baja fairy duster seed pod bursts on the bookshelf and sends seeds skittering across the floor. It’s true—I have a seed habit. I have been gathering native seed pods of late in hopes of going guerrilla gardening in the winter rainy season. In particular, I have picked up a fair few Baja fairy duster pods for the project, which happen to be exploding seed pods. For those of you unfamiliar with the wide variety of plant fruit formation and seed distribution, I’m not pulling your leg. Exploding seed pods do exist, and they include pomegranates, Baja fairy dusters, and okra. Leave them on the plant long enough, and they’ll pop. Put them on your bookshelf in the dry warmth, and eventually, they’ll pop there as well. Based on the number of seeds that have popped tonight, we seem to have hit some major milestone in the drying process. It’s been exciting, to say the least.
As much as I love seed saving, it serves a bigger purpose than my guerrilla gardening stores. Seed saving is a vital part of environmental stewardship and conservation that often slips under the radar in the public discussion. Seed saving is also crucial for both short-term and long-term food security. Farmers with the ability to save seed from year to year maintain greater financial independence than those forced to purchase year after year (as is the case with farmers purchasing genetically modified seeds that contain the terminator gene), and saving the seeds of endangered varieties allows researchers and individuals to stockpile seeds that demonstrate a specific trait that could come in handy later, such as tolerance of extreme temperatures or resistance to a certain disease or pest.
This afternoon, the Unicyclist and I took a trip up to the Desert Botanical Gardens, an outdoor museum and garden here in Phoenix that focuses on education, research, exhibition, and conservation of desert plants. And, as you may have guessed, part of their conservation effort is a focus on seed and pollen saving. Rather than rattling on about the benefits of seed saving, I’d like to leave you with some pictures of the Gardens so you can see what exactly it is that they are working to save. The stunning glass sculptures in the photos are part of a current exhibit by artist Dale Chihuly. If you live in the area, make some time to stop by and see it before it leaves in May. It’s an amazing display.
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I want to move to Phoenix to see all those desert plants! The colors alone are so eye catching, especially the 4th pic. And I keep wondering what the texture is – some seem spiny, and others even sort of soft. Did you get to touch them?
Do you then collect them from inside and scatter? I don’t know much about the process at all, any books/articles you could recommend?
Thanks for the info on seed saving and the role it plays in the ecosystem. Yipes on the popping seeds, I’d have exploded myself at the unexpected sounds
I love your post. I want to visit the Desert Botanical Gardens.
Right now, wrong season in MN, I’m looking for seeds, leaves, and stalks to use in my Environmental Science class. I want to put together a practical. My students are very hands on and I need to do better than just lecture.
The Chihuly sculptures are breath taking. I am coming for a visit for sure. Remember to include me in on the guerrilla gardening too!
Hey, Mangochild! Touching plants is off-limits to guests at the DBG, but…I used to work there, so I’ve touched a lot of them in my time. (I can’t resist–I’m a very tactile personfolk. To be fair, I have actually touched most of them in the actual open desert, as they grow in abundance. I’ve handled very few of them in the gardens, and only under certain circumstances, as they are living displays.) Even when they look soft (like the cholla you see in the pics above), they generally aren’t. Plants here are spiny, waxy, leathery, and tough as a general rule. They are also amazing, and I love them. Agave (the one with the red teeth, also the fan-shaped one with the blue and purple glass behind it) is my favorite. At the heart where the new leaves are emerging, the leaves are furled so tightly around each other that they become forever tattooed with the patterns of the jagged teeth. It’s beautiful.
How to best save seed depends on the type of plant it is. Acorns are different from tomato seeds, for example, and require different care. The “drying process” I referred to was nothing scientific; it was just the mature (but unexploded) pods drying out where I had them stored until they popped and unfurled. I’ll try to post some pics later so you can see what I’m talking about. As far as seed-saving resources, I’ll have to look around for you. I’ve tried just letting some okra, sunflowers, and peas in my garden dry out on the plant and then harvesting those seeds for the following year. They’re pretty easy ones, but I bet I could find more comprehensive resources for you when I have some time to look. I’ll get back to you on that.
Aaron: Grab that Jessica of yours and come visit! You guys know our door is always open for you two. Plus, I give durn good tours at the DBG and I know all the secret paths.
Kirbysmom: You bet, lady. You and me. I already have some dirt lots picked out.