String Gardens and Other Flowers

Gardening is not my thing, though I love flowers. Who doesn’t? I never developed much of a green thumb, because working in the garden seems overwhelming – here in the Northeast, specifically. When I rip out a weed, 3 more grow in its place as soon as I turn my back. The concept of “weeds” is strange to me; take dandelions for example. They’re pretty and make a nice salad, when used in spring. I wouldn’t consider them a weed. 

And then, there are bugs. Big bugs. American bugs. Honestly I’m a bit afraid of bugs, they always seem to hold the upper hand whenever we meet. The can often fly or sting or both. Unfortunately I can’t.

But then I saw these images of string gardens.

I believe they’re made in Holland; the website doesn’t tell, but has many exquisite images to look at. And while these plants are far from practical (think watering and weight), they are so unique that I’m thinking of making one over the weekend. Admittedly it feels strange, to have plants floating in space this way, probably because they are not connected to soil or to each other. But then potted plants aren’t either. It just perfectly reflects how we live in today’s world, where everybody is connected through their electronic devices and not directly with each other. Not sure, how I feel about that. On the other hand, there are potted plants and wild flowers. They don’t have to exclude each other. In short, I might give it a try.

Here are the instructions, on how to make a “Kokedama“, a planted moss ball, popular in Japan. There are also instructional images on the string garden website.

And if I have leftover time this weekend, I’ll be dreaming up new skirt projects and doodling.