MARA ADAMITZ SCRUPE

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Back To Nature: Collecting the Preserved Garden
Grand Arts, Kansas City
January 16 - March 6, 2004

 
 
  
 
The solar powered greenhouse provides controlled environmental conditions for nurturing native plants that contribute to maintaining the ecological balance of the natural Missouri ecology. Also contained within this managed environment are heirloom specimens – plants which arrived with immigrant settlers to the Midwest and were likely familiar to nineteenth and early-twentieth century Missouri gardeners. Heirloom vegetables are highly valued for their tendency to be easy to grow, disease resistant, nutritionally rich and visually appealing. The survival of all these and other native and heirloom plant species is,
at some level, uncertain.

All plants presented in the greenhouse were propagated by the artist from organic seeds, and are maintained using only organic methods; they will be donated to public gardens and individual gardeners at the close of the exhibition.

List of plants in the exhibition:

NATIVES                                                                    HEIRLOOMS
Switchgrass                                                                                  Climbing French Bean
Split Beard                                                                                    Painted Lady Bean
Bushes Poppy Mallow                                                                   Scarlet Runner Bean
Shooting Star                                                                               White Dutch Runner Bean
Purple Top                                                                                    Jacob’s Cattle Bean
Woodland Bergamot                                                                     Old Homestead Pole Bean
Ohio Spiderwort                                                                           Black Valentine Bean
White Beardtongue                                                                       Purple Queen Bean
Leadplant                                                                                     Indigo Sweet Pea
Big Bluestem                                                                                Lincoln Pea
Little Bluestem                                                                             Asparagus PeaIronweed                                                                                 Homesteader Pea
Sampson’s Snakeroot                                                                  Thomas Laxton Pea
Sideoats grama                                                                            Red Deer Tongue Lettuce
Eastern gama                                                                               Baby Oak Leaf Lettuce
Little Gem Lettuce                                                                       Early Curled Simpson
                                                                                                    Wakefield Cabbage       
                                                                                                    Yellow Crookneck Squash
                                                                                                    Zebrina (flower)
                                                                                                    Black Hollyhock (flower)

Several weeks after the plants were installed in the greenhouse, the garden became infested
with Mealy Bugs. To avoid the use of insecticidal sprays, Cryptolaumus montrouzieri -
an Australian insect predator - was released in the greenhouse as a biotic control.

          
Mealy Bugs                                                       Cryptolaemus