Wednesday, March 14, 2007

How does one press this?


Two weeks ago we took a family trip to St. Paul, to see my sister and her family. One of the places they took us to was the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, bless their hearts. Much to my delight, the Conservatory had the most wonderful rainforest room, complete with a waterfall, birds, and the most incredible tropical foliage plants, with absolutely huge, incredible, exotic leaves. They were immense! And so varied - with such strong veining. If I wasn’t a Christian, I’m certain I would have tried pilfering some of those stunning leaves, but I’m not sure if they would have fit under my coat.

I found out that many of the large leafed wonders were Alocasia and Colocasia plants, also known as elephant ears. I located a number of these bulbs on ebay, but then I stumbled upon a tantalizing website called Plant Delights Nursery that has a wonderful, very tempting array of specimens. I'm so excited! I haven’t made my final selections, but I’m leaning towards Alocasia macrorrhizos (Giant Upright Elephant Ear), and possibly Alocasia wentii. I think the two will contrast each other nicely in my front garden, and I can hardly wait to try to press them…what a stunning display they would make! I’m also thinking of trying to do nature prints with them as well. I’m not sure exactly how to press something so big, (I certainly won't be able to use my Microfleur) but I have a few ideas. Have any of you tried anything like this?

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4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Im not too sure if these are the same as the Elephant Ears we have here in Australia, but ours are quite fleshy. The only way I can imagine pressing something like this is on a table, with lots of cloths underneath and on top and ironing on a low setting. Just a guess! Let us know how you go with it!

4:31 PM  
Blogger Elizabeth said...

Ellice,
Ironing! What an interesting idea - that just might work. My bulbs arrived yesterday, and I'll let you know sometime in July how it goes!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

10:33 AM  
Blogger Mimi said...

I love conservatories. You are lucky to have visited such a nice one.

The other Elizabeth

8:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yep ironing - nearly as good as microwaving but its a bit slower but sometimes necessary if things dont fit in the microfleur. Be careful not to burn the foliage either!

3:37 PM  

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