Wildflowering L.A.
Located throughout Los Angeles County, 2013-2014
Commissioned and produced by Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND)
Consultation, guidance and inspiration from the Theodore Payne Foundation
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10/03/13 PRESS RELEASE:
LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Division) Presents
Wildflowering L.A.
A project by Fritz Haeg
October 2013 – Spring 2014
Los Angeles County
Wildflowering L.A. is native wildflower seed planting initiative throughout Los Angeles County beginning in October 2013 by artist Fritz Haeg.
Wildflowering L.A. brings a wild and beautiful seasonal native landscape to open plots of land throughout Los Angeles County. 50 sites are selected from an open call based on public visibility and distribution across the county. Owners of selected sites are given free native wildflower seed mixes at workshops in partnership with The Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers & Native Plants. Soil preparation, seeding, and wildflower tending is demonstrated and one of four custom wildflower seed mixes is prescribed – Coastal, Flatlands, Hillside, and Roadside – inspired by Reyner Banham’s 1971 book, Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies. Each of the participating sites is officially identified with a prominent carved wood sign. The project culminates with an exhibition in spring 2014.
If you are interested in participating:
- You should have ownership (or permission from the owner to plant) an open plot of land that is sunny and completely visible from a public street.
- Seeds are provided for areas from 500 to 2000 square feet.
- A 4’ by 5’ wood sign is installed on each site by the project team after the seeds are planted by the owners in November.
- Each site will be identified on a published map and photographed before and after for the spring exhibition.
- Email a photo taken from the street and the complete address of the site to wildfloweringla@nomadicdivision.org.
Public workshop dates:
Sunday, October 27, 2013, 11am-5pm
Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden
301 North Baldwin Avenue Arcadia, CA 91007
Saturday, November 2, 2013, 11am-5pm
Rancho Cienega Recreation Center
5001 Rodeo Road Los Angeles, CA 90016
Visit www.wildflowering.org for more information
Wildflowering L.A. is supported by a grant from the James Irvine Foundation.
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Age-defying thirsty landscapes of clipped evergreen shrubbery and lawns cover this city that supposedly has no seasons, no sense of time, mixed with a denial of death and aging. The story of it’s native wildflowers is more complex, nuanced, localized and ever changing. Long anticipated early winter rains germinate seeds that have been lying in wait, buried in dry soils from the low coasts to the high deserts, from the valley flats to the mountain slopes. Gradual growth with cool temperatures and low sun through winter months give way to an early spring explosion of bright green and rainbow color. The story of the season is told with the timing and extent of the bloom in direct proportion to the rainfall, temperatures, and climate. The plants turn to a crisp golden brown as the dry summer months return, and the flowers prepare to broadcast their seeds for next year’s story. WILDFLOWERING L.A. occupies the entire urbanized region of Los Angeles county by dispersing native wildflowers seeds to local residents in the fall and then gathering the photos, stories, cuttings, and mapped locations at a central project HQ in the spring during the period of peak bloom. Plant drying, seed harvesting and sharing events prepare locals for the following year.
SCHEDULE
+ Sep: schedule announcement, pre-registration, and inquiries
+ Oct - Nov: weekend workshops, mobile project HQ for seed distribution & registration at various sites
+ Nov - Mar: online project documentation, dialog, etc. accompanying growing wildflower meadows
+ Apr - Jun: exhibition with floor map and video accompanied by periodic events, bus tour, etc.
TEAM
Curator, producer: Shamim Momin, LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Division)
Curatorial Managers: Samantha Frank and Laura Hyatt, LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Division)
Designer: Roman Jaster
Sign fabricators: Knowhow Shop
Wildflower consultants: Lili Singer and Genevieve Arnold, Theodore Payne Foundation
SEED MIXTURES
Custom Wildflowering L.A. seed mixtures inspired by Reyner Banham’s 1971 book, Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies and developed with the Theodore Payne Foundation are ‘prescribed’ to participating land owners based on geography...
Coastal
Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia (beach suncups)
Eschscholzia californica var. maritima (California coastal poppy)
Gilia capitata (globe Gilia)
Leptosiphon grandiflorus (large flower Linanthus)
Lupinus bicolor (miniature lupine)
Lupinus succulentus (arroyo lupine)
Flatlands
Achillea millefolium (white yarrow)
Clarkia purpurea (winecup clarkia)
Clarkia unguiculata (elegant clarkia)
Eschscholzia californica (California poppy)
Gilia tricolor (bird’s eye Gilia)
Layia platyglossa (tidy tips)
Lupinus truncatus (collared annual lupine)
Stipa pulchra (purple needlegrass)
Hillside
Clarkia amoena (farewell-to-spring)
Clarkia unguiculata (elegant clarkia)
Eschscholzia californica (California poppy)
Gilia capitata (globe Gilia)
Layia platyglossa (tidy tips)
Linum lewisii (blue flax)
Lupinus succulentus (arroyo lupine)
Mentzelia lindleyi (blazing star)
Lasthenia californica (goldfields)
Phacelia minor (California bluebell)
Phacelia tanacetifolia (lacy phacelia)
Roadside
Amsinckia menziesii (fiddleneck)
Clarkia unguiculata (elegant clarkia)
Eschscholzia californica (California poppy)
Gilia capitata (globe Gilia)
Gilia tricolor (bird’s eye Gilia)
Layia platyglossa (tidy tips)
Lupinus succulentus (arroyo lupine)
Phacelia tanacetifolia (lacy phacelia)
THEODORE PAYNE
Theodore Payne was born in North Hamptonshire, England and served an apprenticeship in horticulture. He came to Los Angeles in 1893 and fell in love with the California flora, dedicating his life to its preservation. Even in the early years of this century, native vegetation was being lost to agriculture and housing at an alarming rate. He urged the use of California native plants and lectured across the state on preserving the wild flowers and landscapes native to California. In his own nursery and seed business, which he started in 1903, native wildflowers and landscapes were his specialty. In 1915 he laid out and planted 262 species in a five-acre wild garden in Los Angeles' Exposition Park. He later helped to establish the Blaksley Botanic Garden in Santa Barbara, planted 178 native species in the California Institute of Technology Botanic Garden in Pasadena, helped create the native plant garden at Los Angeles' Descanso Gardens, and advised the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Orange County. By the time he retired in 1958, Payne had made over 400 species of native plants available to the public. - from the Theodore Payne Foundation
"When I first came to California (in 1893), what impressed me perhaps more than anything else was the wonderful native flora. But as the years went by it was with deep regret that I saw the wild flowers so rapidly disappearing from the landscape. I made up my mind that I would try to do something to awaken a greater interest in native flora. Thus it was that I began to specialize in the growing of wild flowers and native plants. I collected seed of a few kinds of wild flowers, grew them and offered seed for sale. Little or no success attended this first venture, it being generally conceded that it was foolish to waste time on "wild flowers." As a demonstration (in 1905) I secured the use of a vacant lot in Hollywood and sowed it with wildflower seeds. I went to Walter Raymond of the Raymond Hotel in Pasadena and asked him for use of a piece of ground for sowing wild flower seeds. Mr. Raymond readily consented and and the following spring there was a splendid display. I also secured the use of two lots in Pasadena, one on Green Street and the other at the corner of Lake and Colorado, which I sowed with wild flower seeds. All these plots were greatly admired and I received complimentary letters from many people.
While roaming around in the San Fernando Valley, I noticed that certain areas would produce a succession of color and flower effects - yellow predominating at one time, blue at another, and so on. I wondered if the same effects could be produced artificially so I began to experiment with mixing several varieties of seeds, sowing them and watching the results. It was in this way that I perfected my wild flower mixtures which have since become so popular." - from "Theodore Payne in His Own Words: A Voice of California Native Plants"
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