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Lilies at Butchart Gardens, BC

Sunday, August 5th, 2018

Lilies at the Butchart Gardens, Victoria BC, 18H x 24W inches graphite on 140 lb cold pressed premium. Detail image:

Decorative vine balls

Monday, July 30th, 2018

Tidying up the garden mid-season, the periwinkle benefit from an aggressive cut-back, so these decorative balls were made with the vines that would otherwise end up in the yard waste bin. These vine balls can be created any size and the larger ones don’t require much more effort than the small. Tomato cages prop up larger balls perfectly if you don’t have hooks. Inexpensive solar lights were removed from the stakes and snuggled into the top of each woven ball where they emit a peaceful glow at night.

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How to create: use fresh periwinkle vines stripped of leaves. Dried vines are difficult to work with, and even soaking does not reconstitute them satisfactorily, so plan to make balls the same day vines are harvested.
Make a loose wreath, wire-wrapped at opposite ends. Pull out 1/4 of the vines from the main section to each side, wrapping centers with wire. You will then have 2 wreaths interlocked. Continue adding and weaving in extra groups of vines in a symmetrical fashion. Keep pulling smaller groups of vines together until the ball is compact, constantly judging and defining the shape.

Like anything made by hand, the first stages are most difficult and may seem like a chaotic mess, but stick with it and you’ll be happy you did.

Tips: 1) 24 gauge florist wire is most finger-friendly 2) the solar lights don’t sufficiently recharge if dropped inside so are placed on top where they still show off shapes nicely in the dark. 3) Virginia Creeper is excellent for this except it irritates the skin, so check into that if experimenting with other materials. 4) don’t use blackberry vines.

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