Lake Wales is an excellent site for our project!

The space where the conference was held is sited on a lagoon

 that is connected to Lake Wales.

 

The camp was full of air plants, all over the trees, hanging in tendrils! There were oaks, palms, water plants and grapevine, philodendron, pine, white vine and oh so many more plants.

This old building that is being taken over by the local plants, was an excellent site for gathering materials. 

The camp was full of air plants, all over the trees, hanging in tendrils! There were oaks, palms, water plants and grapevine, philodendron, pine, white vine and oh so many more plants.

We had some great fun feeling the Mother under our feet and exploring the property.

Gratitude and Gathering with Gabby

I had met up with Gabby Milch on my way down
to DelRey Beach.
Yeah! Gabby is coming to the conference with me to collaborate on the plant based visioning project,

It was late in January and she took some folks on a plant walk in her local area. 

I have to say that Gabby brilliantly shared her knowledge of the local plant history and growing habits. Offering a memorable experience

We walked talked and gathered examples of Lakeland’s interesting plants.
I saw flowers, roots, fungi, reeds and seeds, vines, trees and grasses.

At the end of the path was a beautiful burned out great great great grandmother tree. Ancient tree that was burned down by someone smoking meth!

Collaborative imagining is at the center of this year’s Florida Herbal Conference project for this Artist With Purpose.

 I know that collective imagining around our community’s future 

is a fun and fruitful creative action.

So this year for the Florida Herbal Conference I proposed, to Emily, that Our Beloved Herbal Community imagine what we see for the community in ten years time. I asked that each participant envision their role in actualizing their vision. and to create a symbol of that imagining for the community mandala.

In preparation for my Florida creative plant adventures,  I challenged my self to learn a bit about Central Florida’s botanical family. Most specifically migratory plants. And in a community of plant loving people, 

there was a lot of wisdom sharing at the site.