The joy of propagating Pothos at home

 

In this picture I am also reproducing a "Queen of the Night" or Night Blooming Cereus.

The Pothos, (Potus, Epipremnum Aureum), is also called "Devil's vine" or "Devil's ivy" because it is supposed it is almost impossible to kill. I can tell you this is not true.

I am an avid collector of Pothos, of different types, and yes, I had some failures, basically for two reasons:

1. I left the plant outside, under the sun. It will not survive for sure, even in the mild weather we have in Southern CA. It needs to be inside or under a roof with indirect light.

2. I left the plant close to the stove on a high shelf. It lived for years, with the kitchen light, very beautiful. Until the leaves began to turn yellow. It took me several days to realize, the smoke from all the cooking would cover the leaves with grease, and it was impossible to clean, it was too late. Of course, I clean the ceiling but it did not occur to me to pay more attention to the Pothos that was not breathing.

Nevertheless, I have had a great success with a Pothos I put in my front porch. I planted it in the ground, but under a roof. It receives the morning and part of early afternoon light, and it began growing and growing, to the point it reminds me the huge Pothos I have seen in the morros of Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, (they are absolutely huge).

Here is my porch Pothos on the right, see the size of the leaves compared to the Gum Tree (Gomero) behind.

This Pothos extended so long that I have been able to hang it from my dining room window. Note the diameter of the stem!

I have always considered the Pothos as very decorative and I put them on the dining table, coffee table, etc. A couple of years ago, I found this super interesting decoration made with a single plant, the home owner had pinned the stems to the drywall and it looked very nice. If the stems are too long, they can be inserted back in the soil, to acquire more density. 

Here is one of my Pothos propagating from a cut, standing on the kitchen window sill. You only need to insert the stem in water, and of course it has to be long enough to have the tiny "future roots" protuberances immersed. See how beautiful the roots look inside a green glass jar, and I am thinking of adding more colorful glass jars with Pothos cuts just for the pleasure of enjoying the "art" of the roots as seen through the afternoon light. The leaf has the shadow of the screen on it.

Sometimes we need to look at the small details, the beauty of the plant could be in the graceful roots as well.

All pictures by Myriam Mahiques, from my personal archives.

Extraordinary gardens for Champs Elysees

 

An image showing the planned redevelopment of the Champs Elysees, photograph by PCA Stream. Uploaded from The Guardian, USA edition, January 10th 2021.

I am just sharing a post that seems so interesting to me and related to this blog. The recognition of the need to remodel the most famous avenue in Paris, which has been an example for my native city, Downtown Buenos Aires, recreated in Avenida de Mayo. I am quoting part of the article from The Guardian today:

An image from the architectural firm PCA Stream showing the planned changes to the Champs Elysees area. Photograph PCA Stream. Uploaded from The Guardian, USA edition, January 10th 2021.

"The mayor of Paris has said a €250m (£225m) makeover of the Champs-Élysées will go ahead, though the ambitious transformation will not happen before the French capital hosts the 2024 Summer Olympics. Anne Hidalgo said the planned work, unveiled in 2019 by local community leaders and businesses, would turn the 1.9 km (1.2 mile) stretch of central Paris into “an extraordinary garden”. The Champs-Élysées committee has been campaigning for a major redesign of the avenue and its surroundings since 2018. (.....) 

 The committee held a public consultation over what should be done with the avenue. The plans include reducing space for vehicles by half, turning roads into pedestrian and green areas, and creating tunnels of trees to improve air quality. The Champs-Élysées’ name is French for the mythical Greek paradise, the Elysian Fields. 

It was originally a mixture of swamp and kitchen gardens. André Le Nôtre, Louis XIV the Sun King’s gardener, first designed the wide promenade lined with a double row of elm trees on each side, called the Grand Cours.

 It was renamed the Champs-Élysées in 1709 and extended, and by the end of the century had become a popular place to walk and picnic."

Read the article in full:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/10/paris-approves-plan-to-turn-champs-elysees-into-extraordinary-garden-anne-hidalgo

Winter flowers of Southern California

 
Camellias. Camellia Marie Bracie. A deep red color. Enchanting, romantic at the same time. Photo by Myriam Mahiques, January 2019. Personal archives.

Hibiscus flowers and red Camellia behind. Photo by Myriam Mahiques, personal archives, January 2019.

In times of Pandemic, we are enjoying our parks. Nevertheless, if we have some beautiful flowers around, we may play with still life pictures like the two ones above. Even with no fragrance, the Hibiscus (Rosa China) and Camellia are stunning. I want to share more pictures of Winter flowers from our mild Winter in Southern California. We are lucky to have these beauties in Winter, and of course there are much more. All pictures taken by Myriam Mahiques:

 

Bottlebrush "Better John". Callistemon Viminalis

Crassula Ovata.

Cyclamen

Cyclamen

English Daisy

English Primrose

Euryops

Feathery Cassia

Iceland Poppy

Iceland Poppy

Iceplant (Rayito de sol)

Impatients (Alegria del Hogar)

Iceplant from my patio (Rayito de Sol)

Rosemary flower. Do you know it is edible? Wonderful for salads and on top of white meats.

Salvia Mycrophylla Hot lips

Nasturtium. Do you know it is edible? And the seeds, they replace the capers in salads. The leaves are somehow sour but OK for an exotic salad!

Deep red Geranium

Miniature roses or Rococo roses.

Marigold. Tagetes Hybrid.

Pansy Viola.

Lots of beautiful Pansy Viola. What a beautiful combination of colors!!

White Pansy Viola.

Pansy Viola

Pansy Viola

Pansy Viola

Potato Vine Royal Robe.

Sage. Salvia Merlau Blue. 

Yellow Snapdragon. We called them "Conejitos" or "Little rabbits" at my grandmother's house. The truth I don't remember seeing them in  Winter :)

Viola Hybrid

Christmas Cactus. Schlumbergera

Poinsettia. Euphorbia Pulcherrima

Cherry Blossom from our local park.

Landscape Reflections

 

Trees reflections in Seal Beach. Photo by Myriam Mahiques. Personal archives.

Trees and plants reflected on glass and glossy- brilliant materials are so nice to observe, sometimes the reflected view is more artistic (and inviting) than the real landscape in itself. If we work on architectural and landscape design, either outdoors or indoors, we should have the reflections in consideration. I am sharing some examples here.

From all landscape reflections, this Fall season trees above are my favorite ones in Seal Beach. When I go to Main st in Autumn, I always take a picture of this shop display, which varies from year to year, but basically it always has deep red leaves inside, while the glass reflects the sidewalk trees and shops across the street. It is a different way to appreciate landscape, and more entertaining for sure... The real trees are green.

Philip Johnson's Crystal Cathedral has the reflections of the Campanile plus the Palm trees around. Everything looks decomposed, deconstructed, an interesting mix between landscape and blue glass architecture. My picture from 2017.

I took the two pictures above in October 2020. This is one of the galleries inside the Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CA. I love how the interior space looks so ethereal with the glass around, the glass sculpture, and the garden outside reflecting inside. The space is infinitely multiplied.

More reflections on glass architecture in the three pictures above. I have taken them in Belltown, Seattle, precisely 4th avenue. The trees add a 3 Dimension feeling to the facades. They look beautiful in Summer but mostly in Autumn with the different warm tones. The layers of different heights allow us to perceive a transition in scale and lots of textures. 

I have taken these two pictures above inside the Public Library of Huntington Beach, CA. In the first one, the trees from the park are shown in shadow and reflection on the water fountain of first floor. Together with the guardrail, the interior architecture evolves in complexity.

The second one is from one of the exhibitions rooms, in the late afternoon, just before the Golden hour. I love the deep green of the trees and the overall greenish inside. See the trees are reflected on the chairs. The long shadows add a lot of dramatism.