Revisiting Earth Day

mister cactus garden 4 2016

Back on Earth Day my Mister and I took an early morning walk through the Balboa Park Cactus and Rose Gardens. It was a soft gray sky morning, which made the walk much more enjoyable.

I photographed many neat plants but this agave really caught my eye and my imagination… I see a baby bird opening its beak for a feeding.

agave1

Here is an unusual “cactus” that I hadn’t seen before.

cactus tri star thorns

My sister-in-law correctly identified it as being a Euphorbia. I learned it is Euphorbia grandicornis, Cow’s Horn with pink flowers and that it is not actually a cactus but from a the beautiful, interesting, (and poisonous) Euphorbiaceac family of plants (thanks Wikipedia).

And here is a little cactus landscape I designed for one of my classes. This piece is built on and sewn to Timtex The cactus and rock elements have been sewn to felt for more definitions. In this piece the sky is the only fabric I painted.

desert cactus

If you don’t live in San Diego but ever plan to visit, I would highly recommend Balboa Park, it is a wonderful place to explore and spend time and a great place to find inspiration!

By Ann Scott

I started sewing and designing using fabric, thread, and paper when I was a child. I taught myself to make quilts, at first not following the "rules," then watched some experts, learned the rules, and made many hand quilted and appliqued quilts. I spent years focusing on miniature landscape quilts. Now I am a fiber and mixed media artist and that encompasses everything I have a passion for. I have taught, lectured, and my work have show nationally and internationally, some pieces have been published.

2 comments

  1. Can’t help but love that agave. Is that your husband running? I’ve been in lovely gardens recently, but the plantings are so different, so east coast.

  2. Yes, that is my husband (aka Mister) but he is only walking… he is thin (a cyclist) and light on his feet! I agree with you about plants from different regions being very different. I always enjoy seeing and learning about the ones foreign to me.

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