Perennials for Art

Discussion in 'HortForum' started by ndextras, Jun 2, 2009.

  1. ndextras

    ndextras Member

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    Location:
    vancouver. bc Canada
    HI:
    I am an artist who works with plant materials- I was the artist in Residence at VanDusen Botanical Garden last year. One of my sculptures, CULTURE, which was planted with grass seed at VD will be installed in a permanent art garden in Port Angeles this summer. I was thinking of planting it with a hardy perennial such as Shasta daisy because it keeps coming back and is low maintenance. i don't think it will get watered on a regular basis. The wooden forms, shaped as letters are about 6" deep and 8" wide, the tallest letter "C" stands 6 feet high. My intention is that the daisies would seed themselves all around the sculpture over the years. Here is a photo of the wooden mould last year at VD. i would appreciate any other plant options and planting tips.
    thank you,
    Nicole
     

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  2. Townie

    Townie New Member

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    Location:
    Port Angeles, Washington, USA
    I'm new here so saw this months after you posted it. I live in Port Angeles. I haven't seen that Culture sculpture in the art park at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, so it must be somewhere else?

    Shasta daisies aren't really low-maintenance to me. Partway through the summer the blooms all die and droop, so the whole stand then looks very unattractive -- perhaps not if someone deadheads them daily, but that's not likely if watering regularly is also unlikely. When that happens, they have to be cut down about halfway but stems left into fall so they'll still absorb energy into roots for next year, and then they all need to be cut close to the ground. Trimming is a stem-by-stem process, in my experience. Slow, tedious.

    There's a good chance that I'm wrong or have been doing all of that wrong, so I hope someone will respond if that's the case. I doubt any public art park would want flowers that naturalize, and Shasta daisies definitely do.
     

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