The Illustration this blog is based on depicts a “bad garden” in Sweden, where FOR (the commissioning client) are based.

Hard surfaces

Bad gardens are full of hard surfaces.  These can take the form of wooden decking, or lots of paving.

Wooden decking

Hard surfaces are detrimental in various ways.  In hot climates, paving absorbs heat, and really speeds up the drying out of surrounding soils and turf.  An area of soil covered with decking or paving slabs isn’t able to sustain any plants, nor the pollinators and other animals that rely on them.

There’s also the issue of flooding.  Rainwater, which with climate change is increasingly unpredictable and can be torrential, simply runs off paved or decked gardens.  This leads to soil erosion, and on a wider scale, contributes to flooding.

It’s also important to note that hard surfaces are pretty ubiquitous on a wider scale than just in our own gardens.  Local government often opt for concrete or paved areas as they’re a little easier to care for.  If possible, councils and those in charge on public spaces should be encouraged to take a more environmentally sound approach.

Paving

There’s also plenty of evidence that having a garden full of plants rather than timber and concrete, creates a healthier environment.  Plants absorb pollutants, and produce oxygen. And, of course, they often look a great deal prettier than an area of hard standing.  Hazel Dawe of the Oxfordshire Green Party discusses this in her letter to the Oxford Mail, concluding with, “This affliction can be avoided through a combination of action by property owners and perceptive support from local authorities and community groups to encourage planting.”  I couldn’t agree more.

Lack of trees and shrubs

A bad garden will be devoid of trees and shrubs.  Trees are important for a whole glut of wildlife.  Insects feed on their leaves, and hide in the cracks and crannies of their bark.  Birds use them for protection and nest sites, roost in them, and eat the insects feeding on tree foliage.

Long tailed tits Aegithalos caudatus

Mammals may hibernate in amongst the leaf litter that accumulates at the base of their trunks.

There’s also the wider issue of offsetting carbon dioxide.  Trees (like all plants) absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.  Then help lock away the Co2 that’s contributing to the climate emergency.

Garden without trees

Then there’s an argument for planting trees which doesn’t have any message attached.  Trees are beautiful!  They also provide shade in a garden, and many have gorgeous foliage, especially in autumn.  For more on why to plant trees and shrubs, check out the Woodland Trust’s site.

Acer autumn leaf

Fencing

Fencing encloses your space effectively.  However, it provides nothing for wildlife or wild flowers.  The other alternative, hedges, provide walls of protection, nutrients, and nesting spaces for wildlife.  You can also choose any number of lovely hedging plants which give gorgeous flowers, scents, and leaf colour year round.

Fencing

Species such as Holly, Beech, Hazel, Hawthorn, Holm oak and Yew are popular for hedging in the UK.  You could also choose a conifer hedge.  Although better than a fence, Leylandii and Cypress hedging isn’t nearly as welcoming to wildlife as deciduous species.  It does still filter out air pollution (Leylandii is the best of all UK hedging plants at this) but it’s a greedy plant, taking nutrients from the soil and not replacing them.  Its’ evergreen leaves don’t fall and rot back into the earth.  For more on the famous Leyalndii check out the Guardian newspaper’s article.

In Sweden, where the client who commissioned this “bad garden” illustration is based, common hedge plants include Chokeberry, Potentilla, and Lilac.

Swedish lilac hedge

Water use

Bad gardens will use hose pipes for all their watering needs, often leaving sprinklers going far longer than is required, and wasting good drinking water even at times of drought.  Rainwater is also better for plant health than piped water from the mains.  Fitting and using water butts and watering cans is a better (if slightly harder) option.

Areas of water like ponds or even bird baths can prove really important for visiting wildlife.  Consider adding a pond to your garden.

Close mowing

A beautiful bowling-green lawn may look lovely.  But it’s a desert for wildlife.  No hiding places, no nectar-rich wildflowers, no moisture stores, no nutritious grass seeds to eat.  In the UK there’s a big push to encourage people to mow their lawns less, called “No-mow May” and it’s got tangible positive effects for butterflies and other insects.

Mown grass

If you must mow often, maybe limit the area you crop so closely, and leave some areas of longer grass for the wildlife.

A good idea is to leave the grass cutting in situ on the lawn, to rot down and add nutrients back into the soil.  You can also do this with fallen leaves, once dry.  Just mow them and leave them to rot down over winter.

Mulching leaves by mowing them into the lawn

Some people like the idea of a lawn, but feel that the upkeep of grass is too much trouble, or that patches of mud resulting from vigorous children’s play are unsightly.  They may choose to use plastic artificial lawns instead.  I’m not even going to pretend not to be judgemental here.  This is not only an appalling choice for wildlife, plant health, your plastic waste and eco-footprint; but it’s also darned ugly.  Please, please, if at all possible, avoid making this choice.  For an overview of why artificial lawns are so bad, check out this article from the University of Plymouth.

Pesticide and Herbicide use

In a non-eco friendly garden, you’ll find liberal use of pesticides and herbicides.  These kill many species as well as the target pest, and can accumulate in the food-chain.  Many of the plant species targeted by herbicides, such as the dandelion, are incredible sources of nectar and pollen for visiting insects.

Jersey Post Beetles Presentation Pack with Ladybird, House longhorn Hylotrupes bajulus and wasp beetle

There are other ways of discouraging pest plant and animal species.  Research companion planting, and biological control of pest species.  The latter include introducing nematode worms to deal with slugs, and ladybirds to control aphids.

Exposed Soil

Big patches of exposed soil aren’t a great idea, in general gardens are much healthier if there’s green cover over the substrate.  This means the soil is always being re-energized with rotting down matter.  Winter is a key time, when many vegetable plots will sit empty, soil exposed to the world.  As the Guardian says, “Your soil cannot lie bare over the winter months. The wind, rain and cold will damage the precious top layer; it will lose nutrients and structure, and start to erode.”

Bare feet on the soil with garden flowers behind, including marigold and forget me nots

Even in summer, make sure flower beds are allowed to grow weeds if it’s not planted with other things.  After all, a weed is just a plant growing in the wrong place!

Flower beds with lots of exposed soil

While we’re talking about bare soil, it should be pointed out that some soil covers, such as wood chip, are fine for wildlife.  But others, like broken slate or some gravel cover, can be yet another way to add to the hard surfaces in your garden.  Saying that, gravel gardens, if planted carefully, can be great for wildlife, especially in Mediterranean or drought-prone areas. For more on this, look at the Wildlife Trusts article.

Iris reticulata growing in gravel

And what to do with the weeds when you DO want to remove them?  Pull them up!  The latest thinking is to just let them stay on the soil, acting as mulch.

Plant choice

I realise this is a little contentious as people know very well what they do and don’t wish to grow in their gardens.  It goes without saying that some plants is better than having no plants.  Even if your garden is very small, consider container gardening.

Hostas funkia in a pot

However, if you’re avoiding a bad garden, there are some suggestions.  Generally, planting perennials is a better option than planting annuals.

Non-native annuals in pots

This is partly because the remnants of perennials can be allowed to sit over winter, helping nature and the soil.  It’s also because perennials are far less work for the gardener!  For more on this look at the Sunday Gardener’s blog.

When choosing what species to plant, try to go for flowers which are known to encourage wildlife.  Increasingly, these will be marked with a little motif of a bee or similar.

Many of our popular garden plants do nothing for wildlife.  Many roses, chrysanthemums, tulips, annuals, and bedding plants offer nothing to pollinators.  Some are even dangerous, either because they’ve been drenched in pesticides during their intensive growing phase, or because some plants can poison bees.  These include Rhododendron, Mountain Laurel, and Carolina jessamine.  For a fuller list, click here.

Rhododendron ponticum, very beautiful, but known to be poisonous to bees

A brilliant list of pollinator-friendly flowers to use for inspiration comes from the lab of one of my heroes, Dave Goulson.

You might also want to put native wildflowers in your garden.  This will bring in a wider range of insects as they will have co-evolved with these plants.  Some beauties include the Foxglove, Knapweed, Primrose, Yarrow, Snakes-head fritillary, Bugle, Honeysuckle, and Forget-me-not.  For more, click here.  Many appear early in the year.

Snakeshead fritillary Fritillaria meleagris

Conclusion

Hopefully this blog will have given a few pointers on things to avoid if you want to garden in a way which is environmentally sound, and good for nature.  For far more on this topic, and how to work towards a really good garden, please look at my blog on  “good” garden .

The post The Bad Garden appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

The twist on this commission is that this good garden needs to be cited in Sweden, which means a whole lot of research into Swedish hedging species, houses, garden plants, and native species of bird and butterfly.  However, many of the over arching themes and hints on how you can improve the health of your garden, and encourage wild animals and plants, are universal.

Hedges and Edges

Gardens which are welcoming to wildlife and encourage nature tend to have hedges rather than fencing.  There should be plenty of undergrowth to hide in, and hedging species should be native, or designed to appeal to pollinators.  In the main illustration of the Swedish garden, Maple and Hazel make up the majority of the hedging (although from a distance it’s hard to tell what the species is!)

Hedging – Lilac is often used for hedging in Sweden

Trees and Shrubs

Old established trees and numerous shrubs and bushes are good practice in a wildlife garden.  Rather than felling an ancient tree, make a feature of it.  This illustration has a central apple tree, with an area of young Birch saplings on the right.  Fruit trees are excellent in wildlife gardens as they provide blossom in the spring, and fruit in the autumn.  These benefit both the gardener, and the insects, mammals, and birds you’re looking to attract.  If you’re lucky, there will be other mature trees nearby.  These will link to the canopy of trees in your garden, making it easy for birds and insects to access your space.

Apple tree Malus domestica

Shrubs illustrated include more Hazel, and Buddleja.  Earlier in the year, Lilac provides nectar and pollen for bees, and looks lovely.  Not necessarily seen as a shrub, bushes of lavender can be beneficial for pollinators too.

Butterfly bush Buddleja davidii

If and when your established trees shed their branches, try to avoid clearing it all up.  Fallen wood encourages a whole different community of insects and animals, and leaving it on the ground allows the nutrients to seep back into the soil.

Apple tree with fallen branch left in situ

Woodpiles

You can introduce extra rotting wood into your garden by having a wood pile.  Allow this to rot a little, don’t be too keen to keep it neat and tidy.  Ivy, brambles, nettles and long grass growing around it provide perfect cover for animals seeking sanctuary, or somewhere to hibernate over winter.

Logpile with Hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus

Log piles are really good for fungus too.  The image above shows bracket fungus growing on the wood, along with more conventional “mushroom-like” fungi.  Look out for King Alfred’s cakes Daldinia concentrica growing on fallen Ash.  It looks like black balls, or burnt biscuits.  Turkey tail, with its striations, also turns up in woodpiles.  Fungi interact in the soil with other plants, and help recycle nutrients and encourage good soil health.  They break down wood, returning carbon, nitrogen and other vital minerals to the soil.

Turkey tail fungus Trametes versicolor

The woodpile in this good garden has a Coal tit perched on top, probably looking for small insects and caterpillars to eat.

Woodpile

Minimize Hard Surfaces

Straightforward enough advice.  Hard surfaces such as decking, gravel beds, and patios not only stop plants from growing on those spaces.  They also add to run-off from rain water, and stop the land from working as it should, like a sponge for rainfall.  Instead, water pours straight off and can clog drains and lead to flooding.  More on this in this article by the British Association of Landscape Industries.

Hard surfaces can also get dirty, and people may use harsh cleaners to keep their paves areas pristine.  Run-off from these can flow into water courses and damage local wildlife ecosystems.

Avoid Visible Soil

When trying to run a good garden, keep exposed soil to a minimum.  Patches of sandy soil can be useful for mining bees, but in general, bare earth doesn’t help wildlife.  When you’re growing food crops, inter plant between rows of vegetables.  Allow plants to work as cover crops, shielding the soil from erosion, protecting it from having minerals and nutrients washed out, and adding to soil health as these rot down.

This illustration shows Cabbage and Leeks growing under a cover of French marigold Tagetes patula and chives.  French marigold is a common companion plant, helping plants like tomato and aubergine to thrive.  Although it actual competes with Cabbage, it does have the benefit of repelling Cabbage white butterflies and caterpillars, which is why this good garden combines the two.  For more on Companion planting, see 10 suggestions of good companions on the Gardener’s World site.

Vegetable gardening

You can even choose to plant cover crops or green manures on areas of bare soil, expressly to improve the soil.  Nitrogen fixing plants like White clover or Alfalfa are good for this.

White clover Trifolium repens

Grow Perennials and grass, not Annuals and Vegetables

If you can, grow grasses and perennial flowers rather than short-lived annuals and vegetable crops which. once removed, leave the soil like a desert.  Some grass species are highly ornamental and look beautiful.  Many wild flowers are perennial, such as Cornflower and Foxglove.  Obviously, these will vary according to where you’re gardening.  Perennials are good for the gardener, too.  You no longer need to go and buy new bedding plants every year.  Perennials will return year after year, and many will also self seed.

Foxglove Digitalis purpurea

Planting grasses and perennials, be they native or not, is a good way to look after both animal visitors and the soil.  For more on what to plant, and how best to encourage butterflies to yoru garden, check out my blog.

Compost

Every good garden will have a compost heap, or two.  Worm bins are excellent ways of getting the most from food waste, you can even build your own!  Making your own compost means you don’t need to spend money on fertilizer or, even worse, buy unsustainable peat.

Compost heap

For information on how to make your own compost (and it isn’t difficult) check out this guide from the Wildlife Trusts.  Compost rots down, so it’s a good way to get rid of garden waste without resorting to bonfires or taking green waste to the tip.

Compost degrading over time

In Scandinavia (as elsewhere), thermal composters are popular.  This method of composting basically compresses compost, meaning the layers of organic matter and microbes involved in decomposition are in closer contact.  Garden waste may need to be broken down into smaller parts with a chipper, but the benefits are higher yields of compost and compost free of weed seeds.  It also doesn’t smell, is ready in 30 – 90 days, breaks down pesticides, and kills eggs and maggots of flies.

Hot composter with Robin perched on top

Leave Weeds on the Flower bed

This is new to me, but leaving weeds on the flower bed keeps the soil covered, and allows their nutrients to leach back into the soil.

Weeds left to rot on soil

Rainwater

Preserving rainwater is a great idea if you’re wanting to create a good garden.

Water but on left hand side

Water butts can be fixed to guttering, and will collect all the rain water that falls on the entire roof area.  Rain water is free from chemicals which are added to water that we get from taps; things like chlorine and fluoride.  Tap water isn’t bad for watering plants, but rainwater is much better.  According to the Royal Horticultural Society, rainwater “is free from hard water elements and is the correct pH for the majority of plants, including acid-lovers such as rhododendrons and camellias.”

Water butt collecting rain from the roof

Although it can be tricky finding enough places to put water butts, looking after rain water is a really good idea.  You can also combine it with installing a wildlife pond.

Wildlife pond being fed by rainwater

This is another excellent idea which encourages wildlife.  Rain water, devoid of chlorine, is by far the best option for aquatic species.  For more on how to establish a wildlife pond, check out the Wildlife Trust’s guide.

Wildlife pond

No dig Garden

Digging used to be de-rigeur for any gardener.  Many would double dig, every year.  Recent research suggests that doing this can be really bad for soil health.  It breaks up the microscopic networks of fungal hyphae, stopping them from interacting with the roots of plants.  There’s a lot of symbiosis between fungal and plant roots, on a cellular level, and such brutal treatment of soil makes this relationship impossible to sustain.

Double digging is now thought to be bad for soil health

But how can you aerate the soil, making it light enough for plants to grow into?  In the past, this was seen as one of the prime reasons for digging.

Alternatives are numerous.  You can plant Teasels Dipsacus fullonum, or other plants with seriously long and strong tap roots which break up the soil.  Teasels are also great for wildlife as their seed-heads produce thistle-like seed deep into winter, a real treat for goldfinch and other birds.

Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis and teasels

Mulching, growing a green manure like clover or alfalfa, and adding organic matter all help break up the soil.  Without damaging that all important fungal – plant symbiosis.  The Welsh Botanic Garden have more on the benefits of a “no dig” system.

Introduce Climbing plants

The more surface area you can cover with green growth, the better. Good gardens not only grow horizontally, but vertically too.  This means putting up trellis on buildings, and encouraging climbing plants.  Roses or clematis clambering up a house can look wonderful, and provide wonderful safe havens for overwintering insects and nesting birds.

House festooned with climbing plants like clematis, wisteria, and rose

Sometimes, you don’t even need to do any planting.  In my garden, Ivy sprawls across the whole of the back wall.  In winter it’s alive with flies and hoverflies, and spring sees it full of sparrow nests.  Although it’s not great for the wall, on balance I think it’s worth it.  And I never lifted a finger!

Ivy Hedera helix growing on a wall

Some plants are remarkably good at growing up things.  Old Man’s beard, Clematis vitalba can swallow up an abandoned building or a dead tree, and provide lots of safe spaces for wildlife.  Although this is an introduced species in Sweden, it’s become so ubiquitious that many Swedes are surprised to hear that it’s not a native plant.

Old Man’s Beard Clematis vitalba

Don’t Mow too much!

Mowing a lawn too often is a sure fire way to turn a good garden into a wildlife desert.  Even if you like carefully manicured turf, consider leaving islands of long grass unmown.  Small mammals can live in these pockets, and the long grasses shelter insects like grasshoppers, ants, and beetles.

Short tail or Field vole Microtus agrestis in grass

Pollinators thrive, feeding on the nectar and pollen of the wild flowers that inevitably also grow in these long-grass islands.  Many caterpillars have grasses as their main food plant.  It’s thought that you can bring up to 10x more bees to your garden if you simply avoid mowing all your grass too much (Plantlife 2019)!

Small skipper Thymelicus sylvestris on grasses

In the UK there’s an initiative called “No Mow May” in which gardeners and local councils are encouraged to put aside the lawn mowers for the month of May and allow butterflies, pollinators, and wild flowers to thrive.  It’s been hugely successful, and is becoming a given for any good garden.

Long areas of grass left unmown

Conclusion

There are many things you can do to turn your outdoor space into a good garden.  Don’t feel guilty if you’re unable (or unwilling) to make all these changes, or make them all at once.  Every small step taken will help.  And whether you’re gardening in Sweden, Britain, America, or anywhere else; trying to do something to help encourage wildlife and wild flowers in your own backyard has got to be a good idea.

For lots of good resources on how to garden well for wildlife (in the UK), check out Plantlife’s website.

Completed illustration of the “good garden”

Below is the annotated pencil rough of the Swedish “good garden” illustration.  It might help clarify any parts of the finished illustration that seem unclear.

Annotated wildlife garden illustration

The post Good Garden: A wildlife Haven appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Sketchbook pages

FOR have commissioned several sets of invasive species over the years, and favour the sketchbook approach.

For me, this is a treat.  Sketchbook studies incorporate all the important aspects of a plant that help you to identify it.  However, you can pick and choose which elements to work up to a finished level.  This gives me an enormous amount of freedom to play about with composition, and to focus on aspects of the plant that really interest me.  There’s a gallery of these on my website, and many originals (including the Heath star moss) are available to buy.

Himalayan Blackberry Rubus armeniacus for FOR

Illustrating Moss

I’ve illustrated moss before, and always enjoy it.  These plants are so totally different from the normal vascular species I illustrate, and that’s one of the things I love about them.  Their details are tiny, which also appeals to me.  Luckily, I’ve got lots of books on moss (such as Mosses and Liverworts of Britain and Ireland by Atherton, Bosanquet, and Lawley) which are invaluable.

Red bog moss Sphagnum capillifolium

Anatomical details that need including are the shoots which emerge from the main body of the moss, sometimes known as the protonema.  Spores and the shoots bearing them (sporophytes) need to be recorded, along with the spore capsules and their hoods (calyptra).  Individual gametophyte shoots also need illustrating. Stems (also referred to as the caulid or axis) and individual leaves (phyllids) need detailing, along with information on the cellular structure of the leaves.

There seem to be quite a lot of different terms for the same structures, depending on which bryologist you ask.  For this reason, do excuse any botanical mistakes I might make in this blog!

Sphagnum capillifolium details

Illustrating these elements requires pretty full on dives into my moss books, and often the community of bryologists on Twitter or the British bryological society help out.  One day, I need to get one of these lovely and eminent botanists to write a guest blog on the theme “Introduction to Mosses”.  It’d be invaluable for me, as well as other moss-dabblers!

Heath star moss: Specimen

The first thing to do is to get my hands on some actual Heath star moss.  I’m extremely fortunate to know one Ray Woods, a top moss expert, who lives nearby.  Despite the world being in Covid-19 lockdown, he found some Campylopus introflexus on his greenhouse roof and sent it to me.

Next, I drew it up in pencil and, once I got the ok from the client, could apply some colour.

Heath star moss: Is it wet…or is it dry?

One of the quirks of this particular species is that it looks totally different when it’s wet and when it’s dry.  When wet, it has a bright green, star-like appearance.

Wet Heath star moss Campylopus introflexus

When it’s dry it looks almost black, and very scaly,  Each phyllid (leaflet) has a long, glassy tip.  These bend at sharp angles when they’re dry.  Tons of these tiny “leaves” with their white, spindly points makes a patch of Heath star moss look almost hoary.  This was an absolute pain to draw, but become easier to understand, visually, once I got some colour on the illustration.

Heath star moss Campylopus introflexus

The two illustrations above are of the exact same specimen.  I didn’t have a lot of the moss, so only broke off a fragment and allowed it to dry in the airing cupboard.  The rest I kept moist as I needed to illustrate details of the spore capsule and phyllids, which are easier to manage when wet.

Heath star moss: Individual shoots

As well as a clump of moss, I needed to include details of the individual shoots when wet and dry.  The main focus here has to be the points.  I’m tempted to call them awns, as one would do if talking about grasses, but am pretty sure they have their own specific name somewhere….  These tips are always bent, but become very recurved when the moss is dry.  It’s a diagnostic of the species; if these spines recurve more than 90 degrees then it’s probably the Heath star moss.

Heath star moss Campylopus introflexus shoots

I also include top views of the shoot (also referred to as a fascicle.  See, I told you there were lots of different words for the same things!), although this didn’t help much with the dry specimen.

To ensure botanical honesty, these illustrations are both pf the exact same fascilce.

Heath star moss: Cellular details

The next challenge was to look at an individual phyllid.  I had access to good microscopic images from the British bryological society, and thanks to Ray I could also get my compound and dissecting microscope out on real specimens.  Knowing I was working with the correct species is more reassuring than I can possibly tell you.  I am forever indebted to ray who has often given me labelled specimens of moss.

Heath star moss Campylopus introflexus microscopic details

So here is an image of an individual phyllid, and its margin under a higher magnification.  I was keen to have the spine clearly included.  Below are some of the British bryological society reference photos I was able to use.

The shape of the cells at the edge of the phyllid is often species specific (as in this case), hence including the detail.

Heath star moss: Sporophyte

Illustrating the sporophyte was much easier.  My specimen had a few spore cases, so I had a look at them under the microscope.  I couldn’t identify or get images of any spores, but decided that didn’t matter too much.  The shape and colour of the spore capsule was the main thing.

Heath star moss Campylopus introflexus sporophyte

I think the stems (caulid or axis) might be more wiggly and curled up when the specimen is dry, but as I didn’t see mention of this in the literature I decided not to make that a focus.

Heath star moss; Habit sketch

The easiest part of this sheet was completing the habit sketch.  I had photos of clumps of this moss, and I had my specimen.  I’ve also got a decent idea of what the limestone substrate it’s growing on looks like.  It was a simple matter of collating these resources.

I added a yellow leaf for scale, and decided pretty fast that the habit sketch would be of the moss when it was wet.  Drawing it dry had already made me come close to despair.  In any case, it looks lovely when it’s wet and far less appealing when dried out.

Heath star moss Campylopus introflexus on stone

Conclusion

When the sheet was done, I was really pleased.  It included all the required details, and hung together (more or less) as a composition.

When I illustrate moss, I take one contact lens out so I can see the detail.  I leave the other one in.  A week of doing this left me with my head spinning (but no headaches, luckily).  I was relieved the commission was complete.

Without Ray and the British bryological society there’s no way I’d be able to illustrate mosses.  And I absolutely am on the look out for someone with the skills and willingness to write a guest blog here on the basic anatomy of moss.

But for now, I just look forward to the next time an email pops into my inbox, asking for an illustration of another species of moss.

If you’d like to see how FOR have used my sketchbook studies, please take a look at the PDFs available on their website.  There’s a list at the bottom right.  Telling which species is which is tricky though, my Swedish isn’t any good at all!

The post Heath Star Moss Sketchbook study appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

This one of the Cow parsley,  Anthriscus sylvatica, was recently done for FOR in Sweden.  It accompanied a large sheet of sketches of the same plant.  To learn more about Cow parsley, and how to identify it, check out my blog.

There’s also a Youtube film that accompanies this blog; please find a link at the end of this blog, or click here to access it.

You’ll notice that this habit sketch is less accurate than many of my illustrations.  This goes with the territory.  There’s only so much detail you can cram into a 20cm tall illustration of an entire plant, and individual petals and leaf veins don’t get a look in.  However, if you want to show a whole plant, rather than one portion of it, then a habit sketch is the best way to do this.  Alternatively, you can use a much larger format and work on a plant portrait which will be more accurate and less impressionistic.

Completed habit sketch of the Cow parsley

Habit sketch:  Pencil rough

The first thing to do when confronted with a habit sketch is to learn as much as you can about the plant.  I gather lots of specimens, and consult various botany books.  these include A Flora of the British Isles by Clapham Tutin and Moore, The Wildflowers of the British Isles by Garrard and Streeter, the pen and ink drawings of Stella Ross-Craig, Collins Flower guide by David Streeter, and (in this case) the BSBI Handbook: Umbellifers of the British Isles.

Once the plant and botanical information is collated, I draw up a pencil rough that shows each important element to its best advantage.  I use mechanical Pentel P205 pencils with an H or HB 0.5mm lead.  I draw directly onto my watercolour paper, in this case hotpress Fluid 100 by Global Arts.

One of the reasons why I use Fluid 100 is because it’s quite good at allowing you to erase your pencil lines after you’ve painted on top of them.  Various papers will, or won’t be good for this.  The way I paint means that it’s important that a paper will give up the graphite but not the paint pigments once I’ve completed an illustration.

Cow parsley pencil rough (with basal rosette and stem details)

Are leaves alternate or opposite?  Are upper leaves noticeably different from lower ones?  is there a basal rosette of leaves?  How are the flowers carried on the stems?  What does the root do?  All this information needs to be given by the illustration.

Habit sketch: Leaves

Once the client has approved the roughs, you can start adding colour.  I begin with the leaves, outlining them in green.  Winsor and Newton are my favourite watercolours, and I use pans topped up with tube colours.  I mix sap green, some cobalt blue, and a bit of cadmium yellow light together.  I keep the paint quite thick and dry at this point.  Carefully, using my trusty Series 7 sable brush (size 1), I follow the pencil lines of the leaf edges.  This approach is the same as I use when painting ferns and bracken.

Outlining the leaves

I observe my plant carefully, and add some variation to the green hue.  The central leaf is a little paler and brighter green than the others – I add yellow to the mix and outline it with this new colour.

Different greens are used to outline the leaves

Habit sketch: Top washes on leaves

Once these initial lines are dry, I add water to the greens to make them lighter and more dilute.  Then, using the same brush, I pop blobs of this watery green onto the leaves.  I love the crisp edges watercolour gives if you allow very wet paint to dry, and this is the effect I’m after here.

Watery green top wash is applied very wet

Because of the midrib veins and the way the leaves are structured, you’ll often see one side of a leaflet is darker than the other.  This needs to be included in the habit sketch.  You can either do this by going over the darker, shaded side with two layers of top-wash; or you can use a different and brighter colour for the top-wash on the lighter side of the leaflet.

Putting the first wash onto only one side of each leaflet

In this case I’ve done both.  I added some yellow to the top-wash, and covered the entire leaflet with this mix.  (I’d made sure the first and darker wash was completely dry first.)  Allow the paint to dry completely.

Two different colours of top-wash used on the leaflets

Habit sketch: Painting the stems

I actively enjoy painting stems because it’s so easy.  Mix up the right colour (as always, check with the plants in front of you.  It’s so important to keep referring to the plants you’re illustrating if you want to get details such as form and colour right).  This is a sap green plus a little yellow ochre, perhaps a touch of blue, and plenty of a clear bright yellow such as Cadmium light.

Then just outline the stems, following the pencil lines.  You can apply a little more pressure to one side of the stem than to the other.  This helps suggest a light source, and shadow.  Traditionally in botanical illustration, the light source comes from the top left, so the heavier lines are to the right of each stem.

You can also add ridges, furrows, or textures with simple lines if that’s appropriate for the species you’re working with.  With Cow parsley, the stems are ridged, prominently so towards the base of the plant.

Outlining the stems

Once the illustration is completely dry, dilute the colour you used for the stems with plenty of water.  Then simply put this watery wash over your stems and allow it to dry.

Putting a watery top-wash onto the main stem

Habit sketch: Painting the flowers

With habit sketches, the precision and detail of each flower is compromised in an effort to represent the entire plant.  So there are no individual petals to portray, just the frothy mass of flowers that constitute each umbel (or flowering head).

Illustrating white flowers is really hard – you need to show their form without making them look like they’re another colour.  For more on this subject, check out my blog or my Youtube film.  In this case, the shadows cast by each umbel are going to be key, and will be what we use to represent some tonal depth.  As with the leaves and stems, out light source is from the top left; so the shadows will fall from the right hand side of each umbel.

To ensure the flowers look clean and white, I mix a light blue.  Cerulean blue is light and bright enough.  Dilute it to a very pale tone, then pick out the shadows with the tip of your brush.

Adding shadow to the flowers

I work from the top of the plant downwards.  this helps me avoid resting my hand in wet paint and smearing the illustration.  Series 7 brushes are expensive, but they justify their cost by holding their tips.  When you’re applying tiny amounts of pale paint to the nooks and crannies of an illustration, the accuracy you can get from your tools is really important.  For more on my choice of paintbrushes, click here.

Applying blue to show shadow in the central flowers

Habit sketch: The root

The root tends to be included in a habit sketch, specially if it’s an important diagnostic feature of the species.  Please note that it’s illegal to uproot flowers in the wild – I happen to have cow parsley growing in my Aunt’s garden, and she was happy for me to unearth a few plants to get at the roots.

Illustrating these tap roots couldn’t be easier. In exactly the same way as you tackled the stems, outline the root.  I mixed some Vandyke brown with yellow ochre.  Remember to pick out the texture and root hairs, too.  Once dry, dilute the mixed colour and pop the watery top wash over the whole root.  Done.

Putting a top-wash on the Cow parsley taproot

Habit sketch: Adding shadows

Now the illustration is more or less complete, it needs shadows to bring it to life.  I favour a mix of purple and cobalt blue, sometimes with a dash of Vandyke brown.  Using this, and being really careful not to go too dark too fast, I pick out the darkest shadows.

This is an important stage.  Judicious application of shadows can help clarify muddy or messy areas of a sketch.

Adding shadows to clarify a leaf’s structure

I always put shadows below each flowering head, and frequently pick out the tips of leaves to help the eye find the edges of the illustration.

Again, because the scale of the illustration shows an entire plant, you’ll find it hard to accurately represent the shadow details on each portion of each leaf.  This is one of the drawbacks of a habit sketch.  I often find myself trying to pull in more detail than is possible.  there has to be an element of “giving the impression” of a plant when it comes to habit sketches.  I’ll admit to struggling with this looseness at times.

Fixing mistakes

Inevitably, sometimes when we paint we make mistakes.  Quite often I’ll think that a stem I painted is too wide, or perhaps a top-wash has overflowed an edge.  There’s no need to despair.

Using white gouache to fix mistakes

I use Winsor and Newton white gouache, permanent white, to fix my mistakes.  I use it really thick, straight from the tube or mixed with a tiny amount of water.  It helps sharpen up messy edges, or will hide a mistake.  It should be noted that using this is fine for your own work and for work that’s going to be reproduced (it doesn’t show up on scans); however, if you plan on selling your original artwork then the use of white gouache is frowned on.

Conclusion

And that’s it!  The illustration is finished.

Last step is to erase the underlying pencil lines.  If you’ve got a good hot press paper, you should be able to do this without damaging any of the paint (no, I don’t understand why this works either).  I’d suggest going easy on the rubbing out around the flowers as the only marks suggesting them are the pale blue shadows and the pencil.  A tougher approach can be used on the stems and leaves and root.

Hopefully, this illustration immediately suggests an entire Cow parsley plant growing in the wild.  Habit sketches tend to accompany much more detailed botanical illustrations which help clarify exact structures of stem, root, leaf, fruits, and flowers.  I find them pretty hard to illustrate, but exceptionally useful when it comes to identifying wild flowers in the field.

And now, I hope, you’ll have some idea of how to go about creating your own illustration of an entire plant; your very own habit sketch.

Completed habit sketch of Cow parsley with paint box

To see a real-time film of me completing this illustration and discussing the process, please check out the film below.  Thanks.

The post Habit sketch of Cow parsley: step by step appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Sketchbook studies

All the botanical illustrations I do for FOR are in a sketchbook format.  I love working this way; it gives me the opportunity to include tons of details alongside a larger illustration of the whole plant.  Over the years I’ve figured out what elements I need to include for each plant, so can figure out the composition before getting started.  In general, details of flowers, fruits seeds, roots, and a cross section of the stem is needed.  These elements need to be accompanied by a habit sketch, a full colour image that shows the entire plant growing, and close ups of any unusual characteristics that the plant may have.  I always include written notes, as much to jog my own memory as to help the viewer.

Cow Parsley Sketchbook study Anthriscus sylvestris

Another appealing thing about the sketchbook studies is that you can leave parts of the illustration unfinished.  This gives me the opportunity to get into really intense detail on things like an individual leaf, or one bract.  The pressure to have the entire drawing completed in full colour is gone, which makes the process more relaxing.

Cow Parsley in the spring

For those of you who have been in the British countryside in early June, you’ll already know all about the Cow parsley.  If frothes up along hedgerows, spilling tiny white flowers out into rarely-used roads and paths.  At the same time, the May blossom is out, so you often have the wonderful sight of lots of white blossom curving down from the shrubs and trees, being met by the Cow parsley flowers growing upward from margins of fields and lanes.  It’s very beautiful.

Drawing the Cow Parsley

Umbellifers, like Cow parsley, are a real challenge to draw.  I’m sure I’ve moaned about the challenges before in blogs on Hogweeds.  The problem is that the plant is often really tall and leaves spread widely from the stem.  However, each element of the plant is tiny.  The flowering heads are made from hundreds of tiny individual flowers.  the outermost ones are zygomorphic, meaning their outermost petals are a different shape to those of the internal flowers.  The leaves are divided, or pinnate.  Sometimes divided several times over, as with the Cow parsley.  This results in very beautiful and feathery leaves.  But combining the size with the detail is very difficult, hence my aversion to all members of the Apiaceae (or Umbelliferae) family.  I love the way they look.  I live in fear of being asked to illustrate them!

This commission came in at the height of Cow parsley season.  I spent a morning gathering perfect plants, taking photos, and considering the best approach to the illustration.  Once home, I pinned an entire plant up against the trampoline in the garden, with a sheet behind.  I always take photos at the same time, sadly plants don’t live forever and some wither within hours of being picked.

Cow parsley set up to draw in the garden

Cow Parsley: Flowering times and leaves

Identifying Cow parsley is easy, mainly because of when it flowers.  It’s the earliest of these white-flowered umbellifers to bloom, especially in the southern UK.  And it’s certainly the most common.  Look for it from early April through June; by July all you’ll see is some basal leaf rosettes and seed-heads.

Cow parsley sketchbook study done back in 2015

The leaves set the plant apart from other common and similar species, such as Hogweeds.  They are 2-3 pinnate, which means they’re divided into leaflets, then each of these leaflets is sub divided.  It gives them a feathery, fern-like appearance. They tend to be a muted spring green, although can be tinged red or yellow when stressed by drought.

Cow parsley leaf variety and plant overview to show difference between small upper and large lower leaves

Leaves either grow from a basal rosette at the bottom of the plant, or alternately up the stem.  Lower leaves are borne on long, broad stalks, higher up the plant the leaves have far shorter and thinner petioles.  The big basal leaves can be up to 30cm, with individual divided lobes measuring 10 – 30mm

Cow parsley: Stems

Stems are gently ridged, and hollow.  They don’t have blotches of colour like some other Apiaceae species.  The stems can grow from 50 – 150cm, making this quite a tall plant.  Stems tend to be slightly downy at the top, and hairless down by the base of the plant.

Cow parsley stems

Cow parsley: Flowers

The frothy flowering heads of this plant family are umbels; these are lots of little groups of flowers carried on stalks or rays.  Each umbel has 6 – 12 of these rays which are about 2cm long.  The arrangement of flowers has males in the centre and hermaphrodite flowers around the margins.  Unless you’re inclined to get your hand lens out, this won’t be immediately obvious, although you’ll certainly see a difference in size between the inside and margin flowers.

Cow parsley flowers and detail of a small umbel seen from above

Each flower has 5 white petals and is 3 – 5 mm across. A whole umbel measures 10 – 60cm, but there’s plenty of variety.

There are no bracts right below the flowers, but some appear lower down.  Sepals are there but are so tiny as to be inconspicuous.  There are 5 stamen and 2 thin stigma.

The outermost flowers are zygomorphic which means their petals are of different sizes.

Cow parsley: Fruit

Fruit are 6-9mm long and carried in pairs.  They start green and become brown at maturity.  Each one has a short beak-like tip.

Cow parsley seeds

Conclusion

Why do I love Cow parsley so much?  Well, it’s a combination of factors.  The delicacy of the frond-like leaves is visually very pleasing.  The mass of scented flowers smell of the countryside.  And the way Cow parsley lines lanes and hedges is a harbinger of warmer days, and long golden hours spent revelling in an English summertime.  So, for all of these reasons, and despite the issues with detail and scale, I’m happy to go on learning and drawing this gorgeous plant.

Illustration completed for FSC guide to Flowers of Walks & Waysides

Please see my step by step Youtube film below

The post Cow Parsley: All about an Umbellifer appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

I’m very fond of these plants; that warm, mauve blue coupled with the glossy green leaves makes for a pretty garden plant.  It was a pleasure to spend time comparing the Lesser periwinkle, Vinca minor (a problematic invasive species in Sweden) with the Greater periwinkle, Vinca major.

Another appealing aspect of the Periwinkle species is that telling these two species apart isn’t nearly as tricky as some plants can be (see Comparing Hogweed Heracleum species, and Comparing Goldenrod species  for a taste of what I mean!)

Size

Lesser periwinkle is, as the name suggests, smaller than Greater periwinkle.  Although both have a spreading growth pattern, and put out vegetative stems, all aspects of the Lesser are a little smaller than that of Greater.  In both cases, these trailing stems help the plant colonise new areas, and can form pretty thick ground cover in ideal conditions.  This isn’t surprising, the trailing stems can be up to a meter long!

Lesser periwinkle, V. minor

Lesser periwinkle has one, (rarely two) flowers at each axil.  Greater periwinkle has up to 4.

Leaves

Lesser periwinkle leaves are around 4cm long, whilst those of the Greater periwinkle are almost twice the length, averaging 6cm length.  There’s a clear difference in leaf shape too.  Lesser periwinkle has elliptical leaves with a pointed tip.

Working on illustrating leaves of V. minor

Greater periwinkle leaves are heart-shaped (or cordate; for more on terminology of leaf shape check out my earlier blog).

Lesser vs Greater periwinkle leaves

The petiole, or leaf stalk is noticeably longer in Greater, up to 20mm.  Lesser periwinkle leaves lie far closer to the main stem, with petioles no longer than 3mm.

V. minor plant and illustration showing small leaves and short petioles

Finally, the leaves of the Greater periwinkle have tiny hairs at their base.  These are absent in the Lesser periwinkle.  I did spot these hairs, but it took some doing, and was an instant diagnostic.

I did have the challenge of only having a variegated species of Vinca minor to work with, disregarding the paler blotches can be quite tricky.

Stems

The stems of both plants look similar, being hairless and green, or flushed crimson.  However, Lesser periwinkle stems can root along their length, while Greater periwinkle tend only to root at the stem tips.

Lesser periwinkle showing roots along stem length (not only at tip)

Flowers

Lesser periwinkle flowers are smaller than those of its cousin.  They average 2.5cm across, whereas those of Greater periwinkle are around 5cm wide.  Both periwinkle species have five slightly unequal petals.

Lesser periwinkle flowers

There’s a difference in petal colour, too.  V. minor flowers are a paler and pinker blue, sometimes almost a lilac hue.  V. major flowers are a darker blue-purple.

Lesser vs Greater periwinkle flowers

I was incredibly lucky to find both periwinkle species in flower as I illustrated them, it would have been hard to get the colours right without the flowers right there.  The V. major flower was noticeably smaller than those blooming earlier in the summer, but as long as you’re aware of these seasonal differences you can compensate.

Obviously, it’s vital to keep specimens fresh as you draw them.  I rather enjoy the classy tone the Babycham glass gave to proceedings…

Classy reference

Calyx

The calyx is the outermost part of a flower, which is frequently green and often divided into sepals.  In the periwinkles, it helps differentiate between the species.

V. minor has a smaller calyx (0.5cm long) which is hairless, and has blunt tips.

Calyx of V. major are twice the size, and have pointy tips.  They are fringed with hairs which are absent in the Lesser periwinkle calyx.

Calyx of Lesser periwinkle vs Greater periwinkle

I’m not lying when I say spotting the differences in hair distribution, even under my dissecting microscope was a challenge.  But then I only had one or two calyx from each species to examine.  Looking for such distinctions is always easier when there’s a glut of fresh material to examine!

Conclusion

Before looking at these plants in detail, I didn’t even realise there were two species of periwinkle!  It’s lucky that telling them apart was so straight-forward, and that I managed to get my hands of live reference before autumn closed in.

So if you want to know if that plant in your garden is Lesser or Greater; look our for leaf shape and stalk length, flower size and colour, and get that hand lens out on the calyxes.

This unframed original illustration is available to buy for £125, if you’re interested do drop me a line on info@lizzieharper.co.uk.

The post Comparing Periwinkle Species appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

This blog sets out to share what these distinctions are.

Similarities

These plants are both large members of the Apiaceae, or carrot family.  They have big lobed, dissected leaves, and a froth of tiny white flowers borne at the top pf their thick, ridged and hollow stems.  Leaves are opposite, and there tend to be more toward the base of the plant.  There’s wide variation in leaf shape for both plants.

The flowers are in terminal clusters known as umbels. Each individual flower is tiny, with five petals.  Outermost flowers have elongate petals which point away form the flower cluster.

There are about 50 different hogweeds in the Apiaceae family, and these ones are of interest because of their status as invasives.

Cow Parsley Anthriscus sylvestris (Another Apiaceae, not a hogweed)

Cow-parsley is another plant in this family which includes carrot, celery, hemlock, fennel, chervril, pignut, and even sea holly.  Both our hogweeds are perennials, which means they live more than two years, and both are troublesome invasive species in Scandinavia.

Size

The easiest way to tell these two similar plants apart is with a ruler!  Giant hogweed is significantly taller than Persian hogweed; its average height is around 3.5 m.  It’s been known to grow up to 5.5 metres tall!

Giant hogweed

Persian hogweed is by no means tiny, it averages 1 to 2 metres in height, with maximum height around 3 m.

Below is a scale illustration to give some sense of this difference, showing a grown man of 180 cm.

Comparison of the size of the Giant hogweed (on the left) and Persian hogweed (on the right)

Leaves: Giant Hogweed

As soon as we start talking about the differences between leaf shape we get into tricky territory.  I was commissioned to do these illustrations in winter, so was relying heavily on photos and other illustrations.  What I would have given for actual leaves from these plants!

Size plays a role here.  The Giant hogweed leaves can measure up to 3 m long, and be 1.7 m wide.  Although large, those of the Persian hogweed are smaller.

Leaflets are borne in opposite pairs with one terminal leaf (pinnate) and each leaf tends to have three to five leaflets.

There’s masses of variation in Giant hogweed leaves.  Younger ones can be pinnate or almost round.  Larger ones vary considerably in size and shape, depending on environmental conditions.

Variety in shape of young Giant hogweed leaves

Giant hogweed leaves feel spikier than those of the Persian species, and have more acute tips to the leaf lobes.  They are densely hairy below, and glabrous above.  Leaves are sharply dissected, and the lobes are long and narrow.  The literature suggests that the teeth of the leaves have more or less concave sides.  As with the young leaves, there’s a lot of variation in leaf shape.

Variety of mature leaf shapes of Giant hogweed

Leaves: Persian Hogweed

Persian hogweed leaves feel a little softer, a little rounder.  They’re up to 2 m long.  The lobes are broad and short, and tend to have blunter tips than those of the Giant hogweed.

There are two to four pairs of serrated leaflets per leaf.

Leaves are hairy below and glabrous above.  The teeth are said to have more or less convex sides.  Once more, there’s a whole lot of variation even between leaves on a single plant.

Variety in mature leaves of Persian hogweed

Stems: Giant hogweed

The stems of Giant hogweed are flushed crimson on the leaf petioles, and blotched red on the stems.  Sometimes these spots are raised, and in many cases have a hair or bristle growing from each one.  Stems can be large, up to 10 cm in diameter.

The stems are bristly, with a concentration of stout hairs forming a ring just below the petiole.

Detail of stems from Giant hogweed

Younger stems are also spotted dark crimson.

Giant hogweed has a distinctive pale yellow root.  I was unable to find information on the colour of the Persian hogweed root, apologies.

Detail of the root of Giant Hogweed

Stems: Persian hogweed

A major distinction between the two species (which I only learnt whilst researching this blog, alas!) is that Persian hogweed can have multiple stems.

Stems of Persian hogweed have less crimson botches, and may be only faintly flushed with red.  Most of this colouring is towards the base of the plant.  When present, the flush makes the stems appear a uniform brown colour.  Many will have purely green stems.

These stems are more sparsely hairy, and the hairs are less coarse.  The distinctive annulus of hairs below the petiole may be absent.  Width wise, Persian hogweed stems are thinner than those of the Giant species.

Persian Hogweed

Reproduction and Seeds

Both plants are perennial.  Giant hogweed lives three to five years, and is monocarpic.  This means it flowers, sets seed, then dies.  Plants are able to reproduce from three years of age.  One plant produces an average of 50, 000 seeds, each of which is viable for seven years.  Plants can produce as many as 100,000 seeds.

Persian hogweed is also able to reproduce at three years old.  Unlike the Giant hogweed, it is polycarpic which means it can set seed repeatedly.  One plant can produce 80, 000 seeds per season.

The whole Persian hogweed plant is said to smell strongly of aniseed.  Although Giant hogweed has an aromatic scent, it isn’t reminiscent of aniseed.

Persian hogweed seeds

Seeds of these plants look similar.  They’re known as schizocarp (for more on types of seed, check out my earlier blog) and have two parts.  They have papery margins and obvious oil-glands that look like dark stripes.  There are two on one side, four on the other.  In Giant hogweed these glands look club-shaped; less so in Persian hogweed.   Both seeds are quite thin, and ridged.  However, the ridges of Persian hogweed are a little more pronounced than Giant hogweed.  Giant hogweed seeds are about 1.5 cm long whereas those of the Persian hogweed are a smaller 7-8 mm.

Seedhead and single schizocarp from the Giant hogweed

It’s worth noting that the seeds of the Persian hogweed are used as a spice in Persian cooking, specifically in making Golpar.  They’re mostly sold in powdered form and have a bitter, aromatic flavour.

Flowers

This was a really tricky area to untangle, and several sources directly contradict one another when describing the overall shape of the flowering umbels of these two plants.  The National Biodiversity Data Centre Ireland claims that Giant hogweed umbels are rounder than those of Persian hogweed; whereas several other sources such as Q-bank claim the opposite.  My reliable British Flora (one by Stace; one by Clapham, Tutin and Moore) are silent on the matter.

An update to the blog:  I’ve just had information from Lars Froberg, a Swedish botanist who knows a great deal about Umbellifers.  He categorically states that the Persian Hogweed has a more domed flowering head than the Giant Hogweed.

Main or central umbel of Giant hogweed

Therefore, accept my apologies in advance if my summary below isn’t perfect.

Both these umbellifers have frothy flowering heads of tiny white flowers, each bearing five notched petals.  Each flower has five stamens, five sepals, and a pistil of two fused carpels, and two styles.  The central or main umbel has bracts which swiftly fall off, the bracteoles of secondary umbels are persistent.

Another Apiaceae species; the Sea Carrot Daucus carota gummifer

Both species flower (in Scandinavia) between July and September, although Persian hogweed will bloom a little earlier on average.

Flowers: Giant Hogweed

Giant Hogweed bears its flowers in a somewhat flattened inflorescence.  These flowering heads are broad, measuring up to 80 cm across.

There are 60 – 120 rays per inflorescence.

Giant Hogweed with an exaggeratedly flattened inflorescence

As with many Apiaceae species, the outermost flowers are zygomorphic, or differently shaped to those further within the cluster.  Their outermost petals are slightly longer than the rest, and are deeply notched.

Single exterior flower from Giant hogweed

Flowers: Persian Hogweed

The Persian hogweed has domed umbels of flowers.  As with the Giant hogweed, flowering heads can be 80 cm across.

There are 35 – 85 rays per inflorescence.

Persian hogweed with an exaggeratedly domed inflorescence

The side branches seem to matter here.  They bear flowering heads which are significantly smaller than the central umbel; this isn’t true of Giant hogweed where side branches can produce umbels almost as large as the main flowering cluster.

The external flowers are zygomorphic, in this case they have really long outer petals.  This gives the edges of the umbels a feathery look, and if you take a close look at an individual flower is really distinctive.

Putting all this information together gives you the following comparison:

Persian hogweed (on the left) and Giant hogweed (on the right).

Other similar species

Although the size of these two plants makes them instantly distinguishable from other members of the carrot-family, there can be confusion.

Repeated trampling, cutting, or grazing can reduce their final adult size.

Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium and the subspecies Heracleum sphondylium sibericum can look similar to the Giant and Persian hogweeds.  Their maximum height is 2 m, but most are 1 m or less.  Stems don’t exceed 2cm in diameter. Leaves are no longer than 60 cm and are less deeply divided than those of our hogweeds.  The flowering umbels rarely exceed 20cm.

Sosnowsky’s hogweed Heracleum sosnowskyi is another invasive in Finland, and can grow to 5 m!  It differs from the other two in having rounder leaf lobes and has 30 – 150 rays per umbel.  From the images online, it seems to have a pronounced and domed flowering head.

Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium

Saying that, there are problems with species identification, as our hogweeds have been known to cross-breed and create hybrids.

Conclusion

My main conclusion is that telling the difference between similar members of the cow-parsley family can be super-tricky, especially when references and sources disagree!

Both plants are enormous, and have these white frothy flowering heads.

Both can be killed off by repeated ploughing and cutting back, or gyphosphate pesticide.  Grazing can help eradicate them, although it makes milk taste acrid.  And interestingly, both can suffer from infestations of Celery beetle Phaedon tumidulus (celery’s another member of the Apiaceae family, so this makes sense).

Both plants are massively problematic invasive species, and are notifiable in several countries.

Differences can be found in the colouring and hairiness of the stem, the scent, and the shape of the umbels and outer flowers, and in the seeds.  The leaves are a good place to start.  Spikier and deeply serrated is likely to be Giant hogweed.  Rounder and with convex teeth and you’re probably looking at a Persian hogweed.  Or a hybrid!

Many thanks to FOR Sweden for asking for clarification from Lars Froberg; now these differences have his seal of approval I feel much more confident about the content of the blog and of my illustrations.

Resources

As a result of my struggles with this job and blog, I’ve not only ordered a copy of Tutin’s Guide to Umbellifers of the British Isles, but have also booked myself on a day-long course on identifying Apiaceae.  I’m ready to learn, and equally ready to be massively confused!

Resources used include the Encyclopedia of Life; Giant hogweed and Persian hogweed pages; and Naturespot. The National Biodiversity Data Centre Ireland had good sources of information on both Giant and Persian species.  Naturegate had good information on both species; and the Woodland trust was also useful.

For a fabulous visual comparison of hogweeds, check out the link to Q-bank.

Books included the aforementioned Stace and Clpaham, Tutin & Moore British Floras, alongside Collins Flower Guide by David Streeter.  Importantly, and especially if you read Swedish, Lars Froberg recommends looking at Flora Nordica, volume 6.  The two species are described in this volume, and he is the author of the chapter on Heracleum species.

Here’s a short film of me discussing the differences between these two species.

These original illustrations are mostly available to buy.  Have a browse in the Original unframed sketchbook illustrations and Original unframed plant illustrations section of my website, using the search facility.

For other blogs comparing invasive species (namely the Lupin and Goldenrods) check out my earlier blogs.

The post Comparing Hogweed Heracleum Species appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Habit sketch of Lupin, Lupinus polyphyllus

Research: Gathering reference

The first step is to co-ordinate and gather information.  I know that there need to be sketches and notes on leaves, flowers, and seeds.  Along with a habit or growth sketch, there also has to be a comparison between Lupinus polyphyllus and the garden lupin Lupinus x regalis.  Lupins hybridise readily which adds confusion when figuring out differences between species.

My normal reference books don’t cover these species, as neither are common garden escapes in the UK.  (Flora of the British Isles by Clapham, Tutin and Moore (3rd ed) and New Flora of the British Isles by Stace are excellent for information on wild plants.)

Luckily, Collins Flower Guide by Streeter, and The Wildflowers of the British Isles by Streeter and Gerrard include visual and written descriptions.

Online resources are good too.  There’s NatureSpot, the Invasive Species Compedium, and Kew’s Plants of the World online.  In a pinch, you can look at Wikipedia as well, but it’s important to be on the look out for mistakes.

I take notes from lots of sources, then amalgamate them into a list of details to include.

Research: Gathering images

Once the written research is done, I know what specific details I need to get photos or illustrations of.  In an ideal world, the lupin would be in flower and I could draw from life, but at the time of writing (spring) nothing is in bloom, and certainly no lupins.

I use the same visual and online references as before, always cross-referencing photos with written notes and other images of the plant.  It’s so easy to label a photo incorrectly, and I’d hate to perpetuate the error.

Thumbnail sketches

With all the reference sorted, I start plotting how the image will look on the page.

I plan where the central lupin illustration will sit, then add the details around the edges.  I have to leave space for written notes as well as for the images.

Thumbnail sketch with information and images required

Details of the Lupin and materials

I use the same materials I always use.  Winsor & Newton watercolour paints, a propelling P205 Pentel mechanical pencil, Winsor & Newton series 7 brush (size 1), and I’m working on Fluid 100 hotpress paper.

The leaves are made of 10 to 17 leaflets, each being 2.5 – 5cm across.  The petioles are twice as long as the leaflets.  These leaf-facts can easily be added to the main plant.  I add water droplets as one of the things I always notice is how silvery they look in the centre of each leaf.

Finished piece: Leaves of the lupin

The flowers are showy, carried in terminal racemes.  Each one is 12-14 mm long.  The calyx is two-lipped.  The style is curved, the stigma is capitate (shaped with a blob at the top),  Stamens are monadelphous (the filaments are fused into a tube).

Seeds are legumes (like peas and beans), in flattened pods.  Pods are silky and become browner with age, and there may be contractions between the seeds.  Seeds are mottled, with 5 to 9 appearing in each pod.

Finished piece: Seeds and seedpods of the Garden Lupin

Comparison to Lupinus x regalis

L. x regalis has smaller and thinner leaves.  This can easily be shown with two leaflets presented as line drawings, side by side.

Comparison line drawing of the leaflets of two lupin species

The flowering spike looks different, chunkier and more compact.  Flowers are bunched up towards the top.  Each flower has a prominent claw on its keel.  Unlike L. polyphyllus, L. x regalis has 9 to 15 leaflets per leaf.  The petiole is shorter.  Flowers can be orange or yellow; these colours don’t occur in L. polyphyllus.

Pencil rough of flowering spike of L. x regalis

This is pretty straight-forward.  Along with the leaflet comparison, there will need to be a habit illustrations of L. x regalis with orange and yellow blooms.

Deciding where to place different elements

It’s important to help the eye travel around a composition, and to keep similar bits of information near one another.  Heavier illustrations, such as the habit drawing, need to be at the base of the page, to anchor it.  Because of this, I place this at the bottom right.  As a result, the details and illustrations of the seeds and pods fit in the bottom left.

The top left is used for flower cross sections from different views, and notes explaining the fusion of stamens.

The lupin sketch is wider at the base, so there’s room for written notes next to the flowering spike. There’s also room for the comparison notes.  The line drawing of the two leaflets fits in here, as does a study of a Lupinus x. regalis flower.

Pencil rough of the Garden Lupin, awaiting colour

The habit sketch of L. x regalis needed to be changed as the client wasn’t sure it felt right.  I rubbed it out, and the sheet instantly felt far easier to view.

The colours of the L. x regalis are far brighter than the gentle blues of our main lupin, so I decide to do the habit sketch on a separate sheet.  This means the eye won’t be distracted from the blue flowers, and makes the main lupin sketchbook sheet a more attractive finished piece.

Comparison of Lupinus x regalis and Lupinus polyphyllus flowering heads

The two flowering heads can sit alongside one another thanks to pasting them into position with Photoshop.

Applying watercolour

Once drawn up, I decide what medium to use for each part.  These decisions change as I paint.  The cross-sections of flowers were going to be simple line illustrations.  Colours, yes, but without detail or tone.  However, once I got onto them I enjoyed painting them so much that I was loathe to stop.

Lupin flower cross sections and different views

Similarly, I planned to have two of the three leaves in graphite.  I changed my mind at the last minute as I feel the balance between colour and monochrome worked better with two leaves in green.

The green was tricky to mix.  It was based on cobalt green, with yellow ochre and cadmium yellow light.  There was also a touch of Vandyke brown and purple.

Lupin leaf

I adore the blue of the lupin flowers.  It’s a mix of Cobalt blue, a touch of purple, some opera pink and a drop of Doctor Martin’s Hydrous inks.  These inks mix in with watercolour and give a real kick to any colour.  The blue used here was Ultramarine.

The line drawings of the two leaves worked, and showed the differences in size and shape.  I normally do such drawings in pencil, but will use the technique of a coloured line drawing again.  As always, all painting was done with my Winsor & Newton series 7 brush.

Scale drawings

The final step was to provide a scale illustration, showing the size of the lupin plant next to a person.  I hate illustrating people, and am not good at it…  Providing a pen and ink and a full colour version gives some choice to the client.  I prefer the line drawing, and I’ll be interested to see which one the client ends up using.

Scale drawing of Lupin

The finished piece

Finally, it was complete.  All the elements had been researched, laid out, annotated, and illustrated.  I hope this way of conveying a lot of information is as useful to others as it is to me, it’s a helpful combination of written and visual facts.

Finished Garden Lupin sketchbook study page

The clients like the illustrations, and have already shared some of the information boards that they’ll be using at a horticultural conference.

I hope this blog gives an idea of how you go from the name of a plant, to a finished study.  Of course the information you need to include varies from species to species, but the lightness and flexibility of the sketchbook format is something I’m very fond of.

Lupin sketch in situ

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Project overview

There are eleven plants in total, and each species needed certain aspects illustrating.  In all cases I need to supply an image of the plant, details of leaves and flowers, and a habit drawing with a person for scale.  With plants where disambiguation was an issue, there also has to be precise images that show differences between similar species.

Small balsam Impatiens parviflora

Research

The hardest part of this project is finding the right reference.  In the middle of winter (when I worked on this project), there’s no chance of finding so much as a lone leaf growing.   I rely heavily on photo reference.  Some of the species on the list are not plants I’m familiar with (such as the Persian Hogweed), and I find myself entering Swedish plant names as I quest for the perfect image.

Persian Hogweed Heracleum persicum

Species Illustrated

I won’t go into the trials and tribulations presented by each plant here. The learning curve is steep and I learn a lot, fast.  The trickiest element is finding ways to show comparisons between similar species.  How do you put two stems, two flowers, a habit drawing, and a leaf outline of two plants onto one sheet of A3 paper?  There’s a lot of work relating to composition, and numerous sheets of scrap paper get covered in thumbnail composition sketches.  (Lots of my blogs, such as the one on Winter Jasmine include information and examples of doing such thumbnails).

Canadian Goldenrod Solidago canadensis pencil Rough

Approach to illustrations

The client wants sketchbook style illustrations, which is an approach I really enjoy.  I add enough information to give an understanding of the plant.  I avoid creating a finished and polished botanical illustration of each plant.

The focus is a line drawing of the whole plant, with a few leaves illustrated in full watercolour.  There’ll often be a graphite study of a leaf.  I might include a line drawing (in paint or graphite) of the leaf venation.  Other details, such as cross sections of flowers or information on fruits, will go around the central image.

Exploded seed pod and seeds of Small Balsam Impatiens parviflora

The species comparisons also go around the central image.  Below is an image of the Goldenrod sheet as a whole.

Canadian Goldenrod Solidago canadensis sketchbook sheet

And here’s a close-up of a comparison between the flowers of two similar species of Goldenrod flowers (seen in the top left of the larger sheet).

Comparison of Goldenrod Solidago species flowers

These sketchbook studies have an immediacy that pleases me.  I love the luxury of being able to be a little more experimental in what I include, leave out, or merely hint at.

Milkweed Asclepias syriaca showing how you can merely suggest leaves with a sketchbook study

Showcase of illustrations

Below is a selection of the finished illustrations.  My favourite is the lupin because it’s so unusual to be given a bright blue flower it work on.  The one I enjoyed least was the Tree of Heaven – painting dark glossy leaves is tough and getting the bark details right was a challenge.

Skunk cabbage sketchbook illustration

Lupin Lupinus polyphyllus sketchbook illustration

Japanese Rose Rosa rugosa sketchbook study

Japanese Hop Humulus japonicus sketchbook illustration

Tree of Heaven Ailanthus altissima sketchbook illustration

Re-use of existing illustrations

I’m vigorous in hanging onto my copyright when I work, and this job is yet another example of why it pays off.  (For more on this, look at my blog on doing the illustrations for Flora Margarine).  Several of the plants on FOR’s list were one’s I’d already illustrated.  The Himalayan balsam and Japanese Knotweed were done years ago for Gridline Magazine.  Further details of Japanese Knotweed was completed for “Unearthing the Truth” by Nicolas Seal.  The Japanese rose had been illustrated for “The Garden Forager” by Adele Nozedar.

All of these images needed supplementary details illustrating; seed pods, seedlings, stands of the plant in winter.  However, the Japanese Rose needed a complete re-draw.  However, this not only made the job speedier to deliver, but also saved the client on costs.

Scale Drawings

I’m alright at illustrating plants.  Becasue I’m used to it I know how to make the illustrations work out well.  The same can not be said of my attempts to illustrate people.  So there’s a mental block there that means any time I try to illustrate someone’s face, things go wrong.

The brief calls for scale habit drawings, using a person to show comparative sizes of the plants.

I use my long suffering husband as my “person”, and try to paint his face.  Certainly, I have to tweak it on Photoshop, and the finished product doesn’t look great.  Providing the person as a pen and ink line drawing, and in full colour gives the client options.

Although the figure illustrations aren’t a success, the information they convey about plant size is helpful.

Conclusion

Thanks to re-using illustrations and clear directions from the client I finish the commission ahead of schedule.

I’m paid, and learn new facts about plants I’ve not illustrated before.  I have a whole new batch of original illustrations which I can sell via my online gallery.  (Just enter the plant name into the search box).  And I remember how fortunate I am to have a job which I adore.

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Flora in Sweden have recently re-designed their packaging.  And I’m more than excited to say that the new margarine tubs and associated products feature my illustrations of White and Red clover!

The new designs have been done by Pond Design for Unilever, and I think they look really good.  There’s a range of products on offer.  Margarine spreads, and some mysterious bottled products which, alas, my Swedish isn’t up to translating.

Pond design have tweaked the original illustrations very cleverly, and I’m very impressed by the way they’ve used the different elements to decorate the surfaces of the Flora margarine tub.

Red and White Clover original illustrations

What makes this whole job even more marvellous is that I didn’t need to pick up a paint brush!  The two clover species had already been completed a year earlier for the Field Studies Council and were used on fold out identification charts.  In fact, both have been framed and the White clover Trifolium repens original has been sold.  (The red clover Trifolium pratense is still available for sale).

So when I was approached by Pond Design, we were already discussing re-licensing fees rather than creating original illustrations.  This re-licensing can be tricky, and the Assocation of Illustrators were very helpful in figuring out the correct agreement and budget.

Flora Margarine products

I was intrigued to see the layout documents showing the design specs as well as the finished article.  I’ve not seen these up close before, and the detail and attention to minutiae that go into making the designs fit the container perfectly is impressive.

Here are the side and top views of the Flora margarine tubs.  The white clover contains normal salt, whilst the red clover is extra salty.  With the two products are next to each other, you can see that both feature leaves from both species of plant; it’s just the flowering heads that have been swapped out.

The other products are, according to Google translate, “Vegan alternatives to Cream”.   Translating “Visp” and “Mat” was harder for Google, although I think the translation of “whipped” and “food” refer to one being whipped cream and the other one a spread?

The last set of products are a mystery.  I believe they are for the Finnish market, not the Swedish one.  The Google translation is  “Food black beans” and “Whisked beans”.  I’m guessing someone with a good grasp of Finnish would give a clearer explanation!  Suffice to say I think they’re vegan alternatives to dairy products.

Subsequent to writing this blog, Siru Curzon ( a Finnish reader of my blog) read my blog and explained that these are Finnish whipped cream products.  They come in different flavours (such as garlic, or fish spices) and are used both as additions to a meal, and in cookery.

Siru also clarified that this particular whipped cream is made from beans, so Google translate wasn’t far off after all!  Many thanks to Siru.

Hanging onto copyright

I have always been a stickler for hanging onto the copyright of my illustrations.  This was drilled into me over the years at various seminars conducted by the endlessly wonderful Association of Illustrators.

I’ve turned down numerous jobs which demanded my copyright.  I spend long hours poring over the fine print of contracts making sure everything is as it should be.  Ah me, it’s not all glamour and painting when you’re an illustrator!

This job was lucrative, swiftly conducted, and I love how they’ve used my work.  All those times I’ve wondered if I was simply being stubborn for refusing to concede my copyright seem to fall away.  Vindication is sweet.

Copyright – when to sell it

I suppose my main reason for posting this isn’t to gloat.  It is to emphasize how vital is is for illustrators to fight copyright grabs and hang onto their copyright as much as possible.  Yes you may have to turn down work which other illustrators will pick up.  Sometimes a job comes along which pays so well that selling copyright is acceptable.  Logos and very high profile ad campaigns come to mind.  There are a couple of clients who demand copyright as they’re legally obliged to.  Stamp and bank note or money designers always ask for universal copyright.  If you kept your copyright in these cases you’d literally be in a position to print your own money!

Conslusion

However, in most cases, don’t do it!  Educate your clients, many have no idea what financial implications selling their  copyright means to a creator.  Hang onto your copyright.  Ask for adjustments to a contract.  Accept that you lose some jobs.  Join the AOI and ask them to help you negotiate contract law.  Work with them to fight the insidious creeping nastiness that is copyright grabs.

The rewards for winning this fight are clear.  I have an online library of over 2000 completed illustrations that I have universal copyright on.  This means I can earn money for licensing these just by writing a contract and sending a scan across the internet.  About half my annual takings are from this re-use library.  And there’s no reason on earth why the same thing couldn’t be happening for the majority of illustrators around the world.

For a step by step guide to how I went about completing my botanical illustration of the Red clover, have a look at my earlier blog.

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