How does she do it: The Succulent Chair

We've had nothing but amazing and overwhelming praise for the Home and Garden show this year. One of the biggest attractions and things people have been talking about is my succulent arm chair! I've been sharing it all over social media and have had an overwhelming response there too!

The most popular question is: "How did you do that?" which is what this post is about.

I love gifs so very much.

The second most popular question is: "Where do you get your ideas?". Which I'm never really sure how to answer. My brain? My imagination?

However in an attempt to answer that question I'll tell you about the process I went through.

Early in my time at Bidwell we found out that we were going to be doing displays for the Home and Garden show. The first thing we were given as a theme was just "Pittsburgh". I immediately started thinking about what I wanted to do. Obviously it had to be really cool, fairly challenging, and weird. I like weird plants, and weird projects. It needed to be big, surprising, and whimsical. I'm a very whimsical person.

I've been really into succulent topiary for a while, wreathes and Christmas trees and the like. I was surfing around Pinterest looking for a way to make a succulent topiary sky line of Pittsburgh. Then I saw a picture of a "moss chair". There are a bunch of moss covered arm chairs lurking around Pinterest and I thought that was pretty cool. Then the light bulb went on.

Succulent topiary... Moss chair..... SUCCULENT ARMCHAIR

Boom.

From that moment on the idea was wedged thoroughly in my brain. As the concept for the show grew and evolved,  this chair stayed in my mind.  Initially it was going to be fully topiaried in succulents, no moss on the outside, but our Director informed me that would require entirely too many succulents, therefor: moss.

Of course I thought this was going to be a simple process. This is a common theme in my life, actually, coming up with an idea that seems totally simple and do-able but then ends up being far more difficult than anticipated. I always figure it out though.

This chair is begging for a make-over

The first hurtle I found myself facing was the fact that I needed a chair.  My plant was essentially to reupholster the chair in sphagnum moss and succulents. Which seemed perfectly reasonable. I've reupholstered things before. All I needed was to find a suitably ugly chair that I could tear apart.

Easier said than done. I recalled seeing many of these sort of wing back arm chairs on the side of the road being thrown out. Garbage chairs. Unfortunately as soon as I needed one there were none to be had. On Craigslist people wanted $50+ for them, and I really didn't want to actually buy a chair only to tear it apart.

To be fair, I also lacked the proper tools for the job.

Finally, one day, when all hope seemed lost, I found one. It was the ugliest arm chair I'd ever seen. And it even had some tulips on it, which are my favorite flower. I took it as a sign from the universe and hauled that hideous chair home. 
My next challenge was stripping the chair. As I've said, I've reupholstered things before. Stripping the thing was always the easiest part. Destructive and fun too. It was a little shocking when I discovered that even though it was old, stained, and ugly, this chair was remarkably well made. The fabric was thick, strong and attached to the base with these ridiculously strong, big, staples.

Thankfully, I did eventually get it stripped down. As is often the way with garbage chairs, it desperately needed some cleaning. Some scrubbing and a bit of bleach later, it was ready.

The next step was to cover any part that was going to be under moss and plants with thick black plastic (to keep the frame from rotting).

Not pictured: Any fucks given

At first this was an intimidating process, as I tried to get all my plastic creased nicely (which it was not made to do). Then I realized that this was going to be underneath the plants and moss, and no one would see it, so it really didn't matter if it looked like a hot mess as long as it as water tight.

It got much easier after that.

After the black plastic was on and secured I needed to go about building the frame into which the plants would be planted.

This was yet another surprise challenge.
Do you know how challenging chicken wire is to work with? It's really strong. I suppose it needs to be to keep the chickens in. However I've seen things with way more complicated than an armchair constructed from chicken wire and foolishly believed it would be a simple process.
 

You don't want to know how long this took.

Thankfully, I had a staple gun, plenty of refill staples and the determination of some one who has already found themselves in way over their head and kept going with the project.

Part of the seat cushion was filled in with styrofoam pieces to save on sphagnum moss, and to give the frame a bit of extra support.

The real challenge wasn't so match attaching the chicken wire to the chair as it was shaping the chicken wire to approximate the form of the cushions which now resided in the dumpster. Also baring in mind that this frame was going to have to be stuffed with sphagnum moss and support a large number of succulents, which eventually would grow and spread.

Quickly I figured out that it might be worth my while to stuff the moss while I build the frame. Working one section at a time, slowly building up the chair rather than attempting to set up a whole chicken wire frame and then add the moss. This was a much better all, the open ends of the chicken wire is how I got the sphagnum into the frame. 

Another Pro-tip: Always give your sphagnum moss a good soak before using it. However, don't leave it sitting in a bin of water for two days while you fight with plastic and chicken wire. It will end up smelling like some combination of hay, poop, and vomit. It's not good.

As I built up the frame I began to think about the black plastic around the outside of the chair and the moss I would be attatching to it. I realized that the moss, being a natural product and not astro-turf, would have some thinner spots where my plastic would show through. And that would look crappy. So I devised a plan to, once my chair was mostly stuffed, get it onto a rolling platform, spray it with floral spray paint (pro tip: it adheres better to plastic sheeting that regular spray paint). This was a perfectly well reasoned plan. I had intended on getting an assist from a classmate to get the chair onto the rolling platform, but he was busy and I thought. "I don't need any help, I'm a strong independant woman who can totally get this chair onto that platform all by herself".

Incorrect.

As I scooted the chair across the floor, it crumbled under me. One of the legs broke off, way up inside of the chair.

Rage.

How I felt inside

How I looked outside

 Thankfully I got by with a little help from my friends. A couple of classmates stepped in and, giving up time to work on their own projects, helped me fix my chair. Which is good because without their help I probably would've spent at least two more days trying to fix the chair all on my own.

Once the chair was repaired, I got the help I actually needed and got it  up on the rolling platform.  The outer edges were covered in the shiny black plastic and I didnt want to just paint to whole thing one color. If I painted the whole thing the same color it would just show through that color, and I'd have the same problem as if I'd left it black.

Git' R done.

So I decided to mottle the paint with the colors. I chose colors that were already in the sheet moss, browns, tans, and greens and went to town on it. It was a lot of fun. Sort of like tagging a building with spray paint. Which is something I've totally never done and wouldn't do because destruction of property is wrong.

Of course the effect of the paint colors was something akin to redneck camo. There was much mocking and teasing of my chair for replacing an ugly fabric cover with an even uglier painted finish.

Thankfully it didn't last long. I kept moving along with the sphagnum moss, stuffing a few handfuls at a time, then attaching the chicken wire back down, then a few more handfuls, watering here and there to keep it moist so that my succulents wouldn't be going into a bone-dry medium. Then, it was ready for planting.

 The actual process of planting the succulents into the chair was fairly simple. In one of the spaces in the chicken wire dug out a little hole with my fingers. Removed the succulent from its container, separated it if there was more than one in the container. Then I knocked the excess soil from the roots, dipped it in some water, and tucked it into the space I made in the sphagnum moss. In this way I slowly and carefully placed around 100 succulents onto the face of the chair. It took about two work-days to complete this part of it.

Once the succulents were all placed it was only a matter of attaching my sheet moss to the outside. Thankfully, this was actually not as difficult as the rest of the project. It took a combination of pins and hot glue to get it on there, but it went on relatively easily. However, my finger prints may never be the same after spending a day working with an industrial strength glue gun.

It took longer than expected to get the moss done. It wasn't a difficult job, just tedious, and after the juicy creative work of placing all my succulents, playing jigsaw puzzles with pieces of moss and scalding hot glue was some what less enjoyable.

Eventually it got done.

I wish I could say that it felt like heavens opened up and the angels sang down and that I felt an upswelling of pride at what I had accomplished. This weird incredible project that, as far as I could find on the internet no one else had done.

Instead I mostly stared at it with my eyes squinted and my arms crossed trying to figure out how I could smooth out this flaw or that flaw.

It wasn't until a few of my classmates and teachers came over to admire my work that I realized how proud I was of it. I bopped around the greenhouse grabbing any passer by I could find and dragging them over to see my handiwork.

 

 

Look at it! LOOK!

There were still a few challenges left to deal with.

For starters, who exactly does one water a chair? I'm in horitculture school and I can assure you this is something we haven't covered at all. The answer is, with a water can once a week, and spritzing with a spray bottle in between.

Next was the challenge of the Home and Garden show itself. How do we get this chair from the relative safety of the greenhouse down to the convention center, in tact and unmolested, with all the plants still alive?  Answer: With help from the Junior Horticulture class! Thank fully I made a few friends in the new class who carefully baby sat my chair as it was loaded onto the truck and then unloaded at the convention center. I wasn't there to see how it was secured for the journey, which is probably good because if I had known it was coming over I would've been an anxiety ridden wreck.

The show is huge, over 300,000 people walking around, shopping, talking, bumping into things, and touching things. Also during the four days of load-in and the one day of load-out the convention center is not heated, because there are giant trucks driving in through the big loading docks and onto the convention floor. And succulents are destinctly warm weather plants.

And the fact that the air in the convention center, even when climate controlled for people is absurdly dry and saps the moisutre out of everything.

It all made for a challenging week and a half. But we made it through. There was a lot of spraying of the chair. I kept a watchful eye on it when ever I was at the show, as did many of my classmates, and I may have had to threaten a few people who were discussing whether or not to sit on it. (Don't.)

In the end, I think it was one of the stars of the show. Lots of people taking pictures, talking and asking questions.
Hopefully this will be something I can use in the future (and hopefully in terms of future employment) to show off what I'm capable of.  I can make something really cool. And I am absurdly proud of the chair, the show, and myself.

In terms of the chair's future, the rumor is that it's going to go live at Phipps! We were there last Wednesday and the greenhouse production forman told me that they are in talks with our director in order to buy the chair. Which they will add more succulents to and make a twin for and have in the Summer Flower show!

So, if you want to visit my chair, stay tuned for news of it's second debut at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden this summer!

Behind the scense: Home and Garden Show "Rooted In Pittsburgh"

The past month or so of my life has been absolutely dedicated to the Bidwell Training Center display at the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show.

Tim and I during our 2009 visit.

I happen to adore the Home and Garden Show! Tim and I have been going every year since we moved to the city and I used to go every year with my dad when I was younger. The big garden display by Bidwell was the most exciting display, and I was so stoked about getting to be involved with it.

It was a wonderful and immensely satisfying experience and I am so incredibly proud both of my display and my whole class's effort. It was also incredibly frustrating and overwhelming.

This year Bidwell did something a little different than in years passed. Previously the whole department worked together on a single theme. A few years ago they did the Lorax, last year they brought a forest into the Convention center and built a display around the concept of bringing nature into the home. This year each student did their own display, working independently to build a horticultural display to reflect a famous Pittsburgher (it's Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary this year). At first this seemed like a great idea. It'll make things so much more straight forward. Everyone just works on their own project and we all put them up at the show. Easy peasy.

A later stage lay out of my design

Wrong. So very wrong. I feel the need to preface this by saying that at first we needed to have a "A 10x10 horticultural related display about a famous Pittsburgher". And that was our only direction at the start. It was months ago, and the Home and Garden show was so far off in the future that it seemed purely theoretical.  Also, obviously Horticulture + Pittsburgh = Henry Phipps. This is why I picked him, low hanging fruit.

An earlier lay out concept. Watercolor.

The design process was a lot of draw, re-draw, list and re-list.  I used to work for a Project management company, and one of the things that can most damage a project's success is "scope creep". This is when you're in the midst of a project and you suddenly find yourself going "Hey, we're already here doing all this stuff... Let's do another thing too!" At first it seems fine then next thing you know you're changing your requirements (The stuff you need to do your project), your deliverables (What you're actually giving to your client at the end of a project) and basically everything becomes a big fat mess.  There was a lot of scope creep and requirements shifting through out the process. This is to be expected in any big project, but it's frustrating.

Kaitlyn giving some love while she works in the greenhouse

Another problem was artistic vision. The thing is, we certainly didn't lack for artistic vision. Our director Gary is an AMAZING designer.  If this whole process was a theatrical production (which it certainly felt like) Gary would be our Artistic director. And he was great at it. The problem wasn't a lack of vision, it was an excess. By telling each of us that we were responsible for our own production, from plants to build out, set up to signage, it became a matter of 15 different artistic visions bumping up against not only Gary, but also each other.

I could go on and on about all the reasons this project shouldn't have worked out. The time line that just never seemed to come together. The class mates who disappeared to do Gods-only-know-what instead of work on their pieces. Frustrated, angry, exhausted students still with finals, licensing exams, projects, internships, job hunting, and not to mention the rest of their daily lives looming over them.  Stressed out instructors trying to deal with the logistics of the show, all of their work, their outside lives and of course the stressed out students as well...

Move in day at the convention center.

My display on Move in day, how is this ever going to look good?!

Actually, it was almost exactly like theater. Because when it came together, and it really came together, it was beautiful. It was beautiful and the public adored it. And when it was done we all adored it, and each other again. I really enjoyed hearing all the positive comments that I got about my display, but even more so I enjoyed showing visitors the really cool things that my class mates put together.

These are a few of my favorite displays. To be honest, they're almost all my favorite in one way or another, and I want to show you all of them, but I only got good pictures of a few. 

First off I want to show you Queen Aliquippa. This display was by the amazingly talented Selima and features three seperate terrariums each representing one of the three rivers. Also a Three Sisters garden in the center. I'm going to say this a lot but my picture doesn't even come close to doing this display justice! Queen Aliquippa was the leader of the Mingo Seneca tribe during the Colonial/ Revolutionary era. Her main town and home was in the location that we now call "Point State Park". My favorite story about her (and there are plenty to choose from, it's worth your while to look her up) is that she refused to meet with George Washington. You see, at the time, it was considered polite and proper for the leader of another nation or army passing through to visit with Queen Aliquippa and bring her some presents, things like furs and rum were popular. If you didn't bring a decent present you were a selfish jerk who didn't really need to be bothered with. Well, George Washington, being a very self important 1700's man didn't understand that Queen Aliquippa was a strong leader, and a military force to be reckoned with. Instead of showing her the proper respect he showed up at her door empty handed and demanded that she do what he want.  She did not take kindly to this rude intrusion and refused to meet with him, saying that he was beneath her. He was only a general while she was a Queen. Hell yes.

Up next: Andy Warhol. I don't know if other cities have famous artists that they adore with every fiber of their being, but Pittsburgh's love for Andy Warhol is deep and abiding. His Pop Art style revolutionized art and design.  As a Pittsburgher and an Art nerd I can't gush over him enough. Jeri, who designed this awesome display, is also a Pittsburgher and Art nerd and her personal style reflects so much Warhol-esque goodness. Bright colors and unexpected little touches. Make it weird, make it funny, make it beautiful and bright and lovely.  I think her display really captures that!

Next door to Andy Warhol is Martha Graham. Designed by my classmate Andy! Martha Graham is one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Her style transformed dance from the rigid, prescribed Ballet of previous generations, to the bold emotive style of modern dance. Andy encapsulated her focus on line and movement and form with his statuesque Martha Graham surrounded by beautiful blooming Hydrangeas.

My classmate Kaitlyn is an absurdly talented young woman. Not only did she design and build this remarkable sensory garden, she also did all of the art work on the signage throughout the display. Check her out on Instagram @KaitlynCaramelaCreations This sensory garden has a special place in my heart. It was designed with people with Autism spectrum and sensory processing disorders in mind, to give them a way to experience all five of their senses in a calm relaxed environment to help work with sensory integration! The Home and Garden show is a bit of a sensory over load and this garden was an amazing little respite from the day. This particular garden is also raised up on concrete blocks with wide aisles to make it accessible to people in wheel chairs as well!

Can I tell you how much I love this display? Roscoe, also pictured, is a real character and I really enjoyed being with him in class. He would get SO JAZZED about his display. He had an amazing vision for it and watching it come to fruition was so cool! Also, I am a big fan of old musicals, and Gene Kelly is just dreamy. How can you not love Singing in the Rain made with Vinca Vine?!!

And finally, my display. A turn of the century sitting room packed with popular plants of the era. The early 1900's was a BIG time for botany, and everybody who was anybody had giant palms (like the towering Kentia Palms in my display) and big fluffy ferns. Boston Ferns were bred and gained almost instant popularity during this period. Also I have multiple Wardian cases filled with strange and interesting specimens (like Venus Fly Traps), and a whole bunch of fun and interesting succulents.

Which brings me to the main focus of my display...

My Succulent Chair!  Constructed from a wing back chair and covered in over 100 living succulents this right here was my baby for the show. It was a huge project but one that I think really paid off!


Want to know more about my chair? Stay tuned. That's next week's post!

Want to see more of our Home and Garden show display? This is the last weekend of the show, it'll be up at the David L. Lawrence convention center until 10pm tonight and open tomorrow (Sunday) until 4. 

Want to know more about the famous Pittsburghers featured in our display? Check out the website that I made for the show (Each page was linked to a QR code on the display signage so people could look it up!)
https://sites.google.com/site/btchomeandgarden/

If you can't make it you can check out these articles and interviews with our fearless leader Gary Baranowski:

From the Tribune Review: 
http://triblive.com/lifestyles/dougoster/9542029-74/garden-pittsburgh-exhibit
Includes an excellent video that you should totally check out.

From the Post-Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/life/garden/2016/03/04/Famous-Pittsburghers-rooted-in-Duquesne-Light-Pittsburgh-Home-Garden-show/stories/201603060104

From a TV Spot on Pittsburgh Today Live!
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/video/3370961-bidwell-training-center-gardens-at-home-garden-show/

I hope that everyone who came to the show loved it as much as I do. And I hope you got a chance to check it out.

Next blog post: The Succulent Chair!

Phipps Trip to the Orchid and Bonsai show!

I know, I know, I promised a review of seed companies this week. But Tim (my husband) and R (my little boy) and I went to Phipps Conservatory and Botanic Garden last Monday and it was awesome and I need to tell you all about it.

Also I haven't finished the review of seed companies.

It's coming.  I promise.

Anyway! Last Monday was President's day and Tim and R were home. I spent some time at school working on some awesomeness for the Home and Garden show (about which I will also write), then we all went to Phipps together. We have a membership to Phipps, it was part of Tim's birthday present to me and I'm pretty sure it's going to end up being one of the best birthday presents ever.

Phipps has some exhibits that are permanent and then they have a rotating display of seasonal shows that are pretty much always amazing. Not that everything at Phipps is perfect, but I do enjoy them. The show going on right now is the Orchid and Bonsai show. I haven't had a chance to get into it much on this blog yet, but I freaking love orchids and bonsai. My indoor plant room is filled with orchids and eventually, I'm confident this blog will be filled too.

One of the most exciting changes for us has been the inclusion of a miniature railroad in one of the center courts of the conservatory. R, like most little kids, loves trains. During the summer there's a great kids garden area, but in the cold icky months there isn't much for them there, and the trains really give him something to look forward to. In addition this trip they gave us a little scavenger hunt for him, it was a sheet with little images of various things around Phipps and the names written down. This gave R something to focus on while we were looking around, and Tim an opportunity to guide R in a more interactive way.

As a budding horticulturist (pun intended) I really love checking out the stranger specimens and looking around for pests and IPM methods. (IPM= Integrated Pest Management). A popular one at Phipps are these little sachets of Encarsia formosa. Encarsia formosa are a biological control method for problematic bugs, they are a parasitic wasp that lays their eggs inside other undesirable bugs, usually white fly. The eggs hatch and the offspring burst forth, killing the pest. One the highlights of this trip was telling Tim about this and watching the look of abject horror spread across his face. The insect world is so horrific and awesome.

Here are some pictures I took from my trip, they'll do a better job that I ever could of explaining how excellent the show was (and is since I believe it's going on until Feb. 28th).

The Center courtyard. Lush as always

Just look at these amazing Phaleanopsis.

Those markings are glorious

Tiny bonsai orange tree with fruits!

WITTLE FRUITS

This is called the Voo Doo Lily and it's Cool AF

Look at this magnificent inflorescence! Look at it

Sunken Garden over flowing with beautiful Orchids!

Victorian Garden. I think those are the graces in the back but I can't be sure.

Whimsy! Color! Palm Trees in Pittsburgh in February!

This is R's favorite part, the mini railroad garden.

Have I mentioned the glass art yet? Chihuly.

This is Romero the Corpse Flower today, it's giant stinky bloom is replaced with this big green stalk.

Inside the vestibule.

Mmmm. Yes. Cattleya Orchids.

That's all I have for you this week. We're getting geared up for the Home and Garden Show next week so hopefully I'll have the review ready to go in the very near future.

Happy Planting!