Kale is another word for cabbage. I learned recently that Scottish “Kailyard” literature displeased the artspeakers of the late Victorian era who found it sentimental and cottagey, not nearly edgey enough, too sweat-blood-and-tears free, so to speak. James Barrie, author of 'Peter Pan and Wendy' was a kaleyardist author, and thus much sneered at by the critics of ' kaleyard' (or 'kailyard') lit, a genre so- named for the ordinary country-Scot of tradition who had kept a cabbage patch ( or 'kaleyard') beside his wee house to feed his family way before the potato came north…You may even have noticed 'cole' (AKA kale or cabbage) depicted in medieval MSS. showing images of jolly, contented peasants tending seasonal crops.
In growing the absurdly handsome 'Lacinato' black kale (AKA 'Dinosaur' kale) this year, I had the most innocent of intentions, just looking for some kitchen dyes and a little summer salad. I had no idea this plant would turn out to be the decorative star of the front yard, a neighbourhood conversation starter like no other and an art-political statement besides. Here it is, flanked on the left by the lovely native great blue lobelia, or Lobelia syphilitica.
Dino kale leaves (backed by natives coreopsis on the right and black-eyed susans on the left, out of focus.)
Kale colour and texture are foils to a chartreuse barberry, saved from severe garden editing as a Native Plant Gardening Don't, only because it was too prickly to pull out that day – but which turned out to be a Garden Designer Do (Does Glamour magazine still run pics of their fashion Do's and Don'ts? ). The sedum 'Autumn Joy' is still summer green in this photo:
Pollinators love the fall-blooming Michaelmas daisy:
Pot-grown indigo beside the kale: this will overwinter indoors, like Japanese indigo (Persicaria tinctoria).
Calendulas love the cooler fall weather: and burnt orange beside kale green is eyepopping.
These humble, cottagey little kaleyard sparrows love their bath at ground level:
This is the sparrows' Birds' Eye view of the fall colours in my kaleyard. The lobelia has gone to seed. The rue (back left) is divinely thick and blue-green, lighter in tone than kale, with a lacey texture for contrast, harmony and repetition.
Looking up, the sparrows can see the black elder, native Sambucus nigra, in full fruit:
And under the bird feeder, some new garden sculptures by Shlomo, in my favourite orange and blue combo:
Fall means foraged wild apples for apple butter:
And for art this late summer and early fall, eco prints a-plenty, using mostly the native plants from my garden.
Coreopsis with Aronia melanocarpa berries and Prunus cistena leaves:
Prunus cistena, Aronia melanocarpa, sumac.
Japanese maple and grevillia (exotics!)
Varia:
Almost all native plant prints. The reds are coreopsis and bloodroot; the blues are various blue berries, e.g., aronia, elder and dogwood.
Iron enhanced prints from Cotinus obovatus, Baptisia tinctoria and Sanguinaria canadensis.
Ditto, as above; blues from red cabbage and aronia berries.
Plus an embroidered Artist Book or two: this one is about daisies ( o how kaleyard a topic!) and incorporates embroidered imagery along with vintage textiles (o how kaleyard an art!)
This year, Kaleyard visitors were invited to weave fibers and plants on the garden loom (hinged like a gate to the shed and painted as near to Yves Klein blue as we could manage with Home Depot paint).
And finally, we began to hang up some of the art we have had stashed since we moved here a year ago: blue and orange, my faves:
Next time, more about Artist Books and native plants for eco printing; plus some long overdue updates to my other pages here, notably the tutorials page, the eco dye references and the plants.
I also have a set of thrifted chairs that need new seat covers and a new paint job. TBD!
Regards from your Kaleyardist blogger
Wendy
Posted with Blogsy
THREADBORNE 