A Cuban vine "communicates" with bat pollinators by emitting an echo through its acoustically-designed leaves. Scientists say the plant is the nocturnal analog of bright flowers that attract visually-oriented pollinators.
For his debut show as Dior's creative director, designer Raf Simons stitched together a setting reminiscent of the fashion house's founding themes—femininity, romance, and flowers. Once again, the house of Dior was a house of flowers.
In a series of guest posts, San Francisco's Academy of Art University will lend its landscape architecture knowledge to Garden Design. Its second post provides tips on how to build an urban garden.
The world's oldest seed bank is near St. Petersburg, Russia. Originally planted by an early 20th century botanist who collected in five continents over 20 years, it's believed that 90% of its seeds can be found no where else. Today, its fate is in jeopardy.
"Ellsworth Kelly Plant Drawings" is on view at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The show spans sixty years of work, including his early sketches in 1940s Paris, his recent work in upstate New York, and everywhere in between. “Each drawing that I’ve done, I have found. Meaning, I see a plant I want to draw."
Matilija poppies (Romneya coulteri) are fondly referred to as the fried egg flower, nicknamed for bleached-muslin petals and buttery yellow stamens. It's the largest poppy blossom, and the largest California native flower. Blooming begins in early May, and sweeps north along the west coast—the poppies are now still blooming in Oregon's summer sun.
An exhibit at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh documents the success of a project called extInked. A social experiment and an ecological initiative, the project paired one hundred of the country's threatened flora, fauna, and fungi with volunteers that would become ambassadors for their species, with a tattoo to prove it.
