Hammers, Flowers, & Fun for a Party
Linda Lee tries to keep everyone hammering properly and using the right flowers. With this crew, that’s no easy task; they get dazzled by all sorts of pretty flowers and leaves. Linda’s not worried, though it seems like she’s herding cats who have no focus and no rhythm.
In the twilight, party lights dangle from a massive pecan tree. On the crinum barn behind, a lucite chandelier glitters onto Regina‘s Disco Lounge. Our dwarf donkey brays, Momma sits back in her chair watching, amused, her loyal hound Sweetiepie at her feet.
The crew of plant people stands around the plywood table arranging flowers. They’re connecting with flowers exactly as Linda planned.
Linda Lee is a connector. Her driving motivation is to share the beauty, usefulness, and innate connections between plants and people. Earlier in the year, she came up with a list of plants that could be used to get different-colored dyes for fabric without using a mordant. Mordants are compounds that help die-stain fabric. Many, such as lye, are caustic and unpleasant in ways that wouldn’t fit into this slightly chaotic event.
Back in the fall, Linda researched and came up with a list of easy-to-dye-with flowers. We spent the winter and spring seeding in the plants that became this colorful flower border.
Tonight, Linda laid out all the supplies—not much, really—which is part of why this is an engaging, fun, and creative project for an informal gathering.
She put a plastic tablecloth on the plywood table. Then, she told folks to spread their t-shirts or white cloth napkins on the table, then on them, arrange flowers as they liked. Earlier, Betsy, Gentry, and Mathew picked flowers to supply the table.
Each person started out with the right plants. But y’all know plant people. They wanted to add some purple larkspur, a fern leaf, and, of course, a crinum petal. Linda would never correct them except to say, “You can add whatever you like, but I don’t know if those colors will stick. It’s a pigment thing. Some colors will wash out. But these will stain the fabric and last a while.”
We thought laying out flowers was the fun part. But the process, and therefore the party, only gets better and more captivating.
She’d chosen Golden Tickseed (Coreopsis tinctoria,) and I added a burgundy-flowered strain, Coreopsis tincture rubra. Both are American natives, short-lived perennials that come up easily from seed. By the way, neither is tasty to deer or donkeys.
In early March, we sowed the seeds directly on raked ground. I can’t help myself; I added some other flowers, too, including American natives, Zinnia, and cosmos. Here’s a video of the glorious border. This is what 30 dollars worth of seed can grow into. All seeds came from a Texas grower, Wildseedfarms.com.
Additionally, Linda wanted to try a European plant called woad. “Woad,” she said, “Gives a blue tone when the fat green leaves are processed. You can’t go wrong with woad.”
For this magical evening, Linda finally got us all in sync and on track. She led us to the next step. We all watched, wide-eyed and shocked, as she picked up a hammer and started pounding on the delicate flowers. I wanted to say, “Stop! You’re hurting them!” It’s tough to believe that a few layers of colorful cells in the ephemeral petals of flowers wouldn’t turn into a mushy mess. She peeled back a bit of wax paper to let everyone see the result — a flower imprint on the fabric.
People started tentatively. But when they saw it working, the hammering got harder and louder, and eventually, folks even got in sync with each other—sort of like how a drum circle goes from chaos to rhythm.
None of this was particularly difficult. But it all started months ago when Linda had an idea of sharing one of the cool, intricate secrets of Coreopsis. Linda Lee, a professional botanist, had fun doing this project. But these are folks who wholeheartedly understand how connected we are to plants. Linda doesn’t talk about it much, but I know what she does in her spare time. Hicking and botanizing alone, for sure. But also, she’s building a garden at a local school, making a box planter with plexiglass sides so children can see root growth, and she’s sharing with people who really need connection. Linda Lee shares the rhythm of the earth.
Farm classes and events slow down and actually stop in July and August. But we are scheduling group tours for October Lunch and Learns right now. If you have a group of 15 or more that wants to set up an event, please email Bob at bulbmen@gmail.com
I bravely tackled a similar hammering project with younger school kids using blank notecards made of thick paper. No one hammered each other or their own fingers. Whew.
oh my ... this appears to be a most wonderful, creative and fun project !!!! and I see a familiar face or two in that crowd !!!! another fun day/evening on the Farm - well done !