Gardening and fine art may seem, at first glance, rather unrelated. But gardeners know it takes considerable art to create an effective garden picture, and artists find that plants and flowers make interesting subjects for their paintings. The relationship, therefore, can be quite close.
When we were first married almost 17 years ago, my artist-husband could not tell a petunia from a daisy. But with his natural appreciation of beauty, it was easy to “convert” him.
He has become increasingly interested in painting flowers and plants and has gradually become interested in their culture.
Our first indoor garden was a lonely rubber plant. Though long since dead, it is not forgotten, for it was part of the composition of my husband’s first still life.
This painting, entitled “The Rubber Plant,” was awarded two major prizes for still life and was one of three paintings chosen by the state to represent Indiana art at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City.
Over the years, our house plant collection has increased from one plant to between 200 and 300 specimens, occupying every window.
With the windows full of plants and the walls covered with paintings, we sometimes think of our house as a conservatory museum!
Visitors invariably wander around the house much as they would in a gallery, studying the paintings and/or house plants.
Still Life Subjects: Plants and Flowers
Among the houseplants Bill has used in his still lifes are cacti, rubber plants, cast-iron plants, callas, dieffenbachias, and begonias. Chinese evergreens, bird’s-nest ferns, billbergias, and walking iris.
He has also painted sunflowers, poppies, marigolds, asters, tulips, zinnias, chrysanthemums, and other flowers from the outdoor garden.
His still-life subjects have also extended into the vegetable and fruit families:
- Pumpkins
- Squash
- Apples
- Pineapples
- Peaches
- Grapes
- Oranges
- Lemons
- Watermelons
Recognition and Exhibitions
Many of Bill’s paintings have won recognition in various parts of the country. He has been represented in such competitive exhibitions as the:
- Carnegie Art Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio
- National Exhibition of American Art, New York City
- Midwestern Artist Exhibitions, Kansas City, Missouri
- Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia
He exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C., in 1940. was represented in that gallery’s “Best Mural Designs for the 48 States.”
As a result of this show, he was commissioned by the Federal Arts Project to paint a mural for the Pendleton, Indiana, post office. The Culver Military Academy purchased a painting of cactus plants for its permanent gallery.
Except for the years of World War II, Bill has regularly exhibited in the Hoosier Salon, the John Herron Art Museum, the Indiana Artists’ Club, and the Indiana State Fair. At the State Fair, he has won some 25 prizes.
Hoosier Salon Prize-Winning Painting
FLOWER GROWER readers who attended the 1951 International Flower Show in New York may recall that Bill’s Hoosier Salon prize-winning still life, “The Green Thumb,” was on display at the FLOWER GROWER exhibit on the third floor. This painting was Bill’s third to win the Hoosier Salon’s premier award for still lifes.
Readers who live in the vicinity of Indianapolis may be interested to know that he will hold a one-man show this month.
November 19-30, at the Hoosier Salon Gallery, where many of the paintings shown in the accompanying illustrations will be on display.
Benefits of Painting “Homegrown” Plants
From an artist’s viewpoint, it is eminently more satisfactory to paint “homegrown” plants.
They can be studied carefully before the painting begins and are less likely to die before it is completed because they have been removed from their “home” environment.
In the days when we borrowed plants from friends, we found, to our dismay, that the plants often resented being moved, and we were forced to report to the owners that their plants had not survived the painting period.
Factors For Successful Plant Growth
While a greenhouse is an objective for the future, we have found that many different plants will adapt themselves to the conditions found in the home.
To be successful, we have to determine the soil, temperature, and other preferences of the plants we wish to grow.
Some are more adaptable than others, but any plant will be happier if its natural growing conditions are approximated.
We could hardly expect great success with cacti or other desert plants in Indiana, where the air is moist, and sunshine can be expected only 57% percent of the time.
But we can succeed with plants that like moisture in the air—African violets, begonias, foliage plants and vines, flowering bulbs such as amaryllis, gloxinias, callas, caladiums, and other similar plants.
Tropical and Subtropical Plants
Some of the tropical and subtropical plants sicken and die when brought from a greenhouse into a living room.
By experimentation, however, we have found that some of the more temperamental ones can be successfully raised from seed. In this way, the plants seem more able to adjust themselves to the “unnatural” growing conditions.
Strelitzia from Seed
Strelitzia reginae, the bird-of-paradise flower, is almost sure to perish when brought into the home, but we have been able to grow two of these exotic tropical plants from seed.
The cultural directions with the seeds stated that bottom heat was necessary to ensure germination.
We knew the top of the gas stove was constantly warm due to the pilot light. We adjusted the pilot light so the temperature remained at a uniform 85° degrees Fahrenheit.
We planted the seeds in a mixture of equal parts of sand, peat moss, and soil in a covered baking dish. The dish was kept on the stove directly over the pilot light day and night except when the stove was needed for preparing meals.
Since the dish was tightly covered, only a small amount of watering was needed during germination.
Potting
It took four weeks for the seeds to “hatch,” but they grew quickly after germinating. The plants were potted in rich soil as soon as they were large enough to handle and were placed in an east window, where they continued to grow.
Each year, they are repotted into a slightly larger pot. While a minimum temperature of 60° degrees Fahrenheit is recommended for strelitzia, these two grown from seed have survived temperatures as low as 40° degrees Fahrenheit during winter.
However, such low temperatures do slow down the plants’ growth temporarily.
Veltheimia Viridifolia
Veltheimia viridifolia rests during the summer and starts growing about September 1.
A giant-size veltheimia bulb purchased during the fall of 1948 has barely managed to exist, producing only one spindly bloom during this period due, no doubt, to the coolness of the house.
Eight veltheimia seeds were planted in 1948 and treated in the same manner as strelitzia. Three of the eight seeds germinated; the strongest-looking seedling was potted, and the other two discarded.
The seedling has grown to a good-sized bulb, exceeding the original bulb both in size and quality. It can remain in its pot during the summer resting period, but water is withheld.
It starts growing again about September 1 and continues to grow during the winter months, when the temperature in our house is much lower than recommended for the plant.
Potting Soil
The proper potting soil for houseplants is an important factor, but it is sometimes difficult to obtain. Woods soil, sandy loam, compost, and leaf mold are usually recommended.
None of these is readily available to apartment-dwellers or those who garden on small city lots. We have found that the only solution for city folks is to compromise by using substitutes.
If the flower or vegetable garden cannot provide the basis for the potting soil, you can usually purchase good topsoil by the bushel basket or truckload. (We have purchased 14 tons!)
The topsoil can be augmented by adding sand, peat moss, dried cow manure, bone meal, and some commercial fertilizer.
These materials are usually available at seed and feed stores at moderate cost. Sometimes, peat moss may be substituted for leaf mold, humus, and compost.
If the mixture is to be used for plants requiring a large proportion of leaf mold (such as billbergias), bone meal may be added to the peat moss.
It is usually wise to add some bone meal since the peat moss has little or no food value. Dried cow manure, usually available in small packages, may be added to soil mixtures for plants that need rich soil callas, gloxinias, caladiums, begonias, etc.
Cow manure should be used carefully and only when the directions recommend, as some plants, particularly coleus, will not grow well if cow manure is used.
Because of the many house plants we grow, we find mixing a large quantity of “general” potting soil convenient. This consists of 1/2 ordinary soil from the yard, 1/4 peat moss, and 1/4 sand purchased from a building supply company.
We add 1/2 pint of 4-12-4 fertilizer to each bushel basket and a pint of bonemeal. A quantity of this soil mixture stored in the basement or garage proves handy for potting bulbs and other plants when the ground is frozen in the winter.
Basic Soil Mixture
This basic mixture can be adapted to meet the requirements of individual plants by adding cow, manure, and a little extra peat moss for callas, gloxinias, and African violets and by adding a larger portion of peat moss for billbergias, begonias, ferns, and philodendrons.
All of our plants, unless recently repotted, are given a weekly feeding with liquid manure and a weekly bath in the bathtub.
Keep Track of Plant Preferences
When I began collecting information about the likes and dislikes of individual house plants, I found it difficult to remember which plant liked what.
A loose-leaf notebook has proved most helpful. Each plant is given a separate page, which is arranged alphabetically according to the plant’s name.
I try to include the family to which the plant belongs since this provides a clue as to its cultural needs and as much information as possible about the plant’s natural growing habits.
If the plant, bulb, or seed has been purchased, the date of the purchase and the source are recorded.
A record is kept of the soil mixture used, the date of potting or repotting, and the date of bloom. If the soil mixture does not seem entirely suitable, it is changed the next time, and the new mixture is recorded.
Although much of the information is eventually memorized, a notebook makes it possible to quickly access valuable information.
As our house plant collection has increased, it has progressively claimed household priority.
Windows have been built especially for the plants; window shades have been removed; curtains have been discarded in favor of draperies; fires have been built or not built according to the needs of the plants; and the plants have made it almost impossible for us ever to take a vacation!
44659 by Mildred Kaeser