Detritus- The Forest Floor

Today the impact of our native plant classes became apparent as I gathered up my most recent flock of scarves to think about names for them.  The contrasting greens, rust and chartreuse reminded me of the forest floor we walked on at the Rancho Santa Ana botanical gardens last weekend.  We were searching for inspiration from the mature native plants that grow so beautifully in the Claremont garden.  We had the whole place to ourselves and as we walked through a grove of trees,  I took this picture of a web of leaves and twigs suspended in a natural tapestry from a Coastal oak branch.

A bit later, we came across this beautiful large shrub in the Arctostaphylos family. We've decided to plant manzanitas in our backyard because we love their sculptural quality and the combination of burgundy colored bark and shiny green leaves.  After presenting our landscape plan to the instructor earlier that day, we knew we needed to get a better handle on their mature size.  This one took our breath away.

We've  immersed ourselves in the California native plant culture and there was even a night when Latin plant names swirled through my dreams. So, it should come as no surprise that my palette for fall incorporates these colors.

I've been working on scarves as a way to transition into the fall/winter season.  The weather has refused to acknowledge autumn so I've squirreled myself away in the studio, creating textile mounds, cutting and sewing. This collection brings to mind words like chaparral, coastal and woodland with specific nods to Vitus californica (red grapes) and  Eriogonum fasciculatum (California buckwheat).