Dir. Walon Green, 1978

It set back the serious study of plant behavior by a generation, making the field itself a subject of ridicule in the scientific community, but also inspired musical experiments in which plants' chemical reactions generate electronic compositions of real beauty. —Andrew Leland, KCRW

Previously referenced in Botanical Readiness Vol 3: excerpts by Daniel Chamovitz and Zoë Schlanger.

A visit to Chicago BUILD urban garden, Austin neighborhood:

Cover: Richard Powers

Cover: Richard Whittern

  —David John Rosenheim

Gouache on handmilled paper

On The Border

I ran into Peter outside the San Marcos Feed store.
About 7 miles from Madrid. I was buying cat food and he was picking up medicine for Dulce, his horse.
'How's it going Peter?'
'Oh man, Dulce is sick as a horse'
'She is a horse.'
'Then what's your problem?' Peter stared. I looked away. Toward the 2 cats chasing lizards near the pile of used pallets. I see Peter about 2 maybe 3 times a year. Dulce I see more as the neighbors will take her out for walks past the place I am staying.

Peter headed to his truck and stopped.
'How is your flower business going?' Peter said over his shoulder.
'Fine, I guess. Every year is different. Changes every year.'
'Do anything for yourself this year?' Peter looked at me straight.
'Yeah, started using the wild carrot for my own. Dacus carota.'
'Wild carrots?'
'Yeah, if you like birds, bugs, and bees. Get some.'
'Will they come back?'

'Don't know. But tons of colors. Purples, whites, orange.'
'Say, what the hell are you doing over there? On that acre of yours. Every time I drive by it looks like nothing is going on. Then I take another look and there it is. Something new popping up. Like it's changed.' I like Peter. One of the last that will notice something, appreciate it, and let you know when the time is right. Nice and easy.

'I am trying to do nothing. It is impossible to do nothing. Just trying to leave things alone. Give it a soft hand. Anyway I don't own it and the owner wants to sell to the oil company. That's kinda driving the design.'

'What would the oil company want it for?'

'Probably just to get rid of a possible complaint. Drive them off, drive them to the cliffs.'

'That'll work, I saw the Chamisos.' Peter said.

The Chamiso is a native shrub out here north of the border. Blooms in the fall. Golden yellow. Also called rabbit bush. When Peter said that, the hills were on fire with the golden flames of the Chamiso. And this year is especially good with the rains and cool temps. Each shrub taking it's own form. It's own expression. Proving that where you are, where you grow is who you are. A true tell. This is a good year.

Peter eased into his truck and very slowly started to pull out of the gravel drive onto the 2 lane highway. BooBoo, his dusty Pyrenees sheep dog caught up and jumped into the cab. Then he was gone. A soft gentle wave from Peter was the last I would see of him till Spring. The winter has gently knocked at our doors and is coming in.

See you when the leaves are gone.
Buchanan
9.31.2025

All three: 2025, ink and vinyl paint on polypropylene, 14"x11"

Botanical Readiness was the theme for this event, with a discussion of the periodical as guests were invited in to a drawing session.

Untitled
Graphite, alcohol marker, and ink on paper

Cover: Jacques Wyrs

A Botanical Readiness kiosk at GAG Fest in Garfield Park.

Cover: Richard Whittern

Ink on Yupo:
 

[GARDENING MUSINGS
Short reflection on a longterm philosophical approach:]

(Dad's advice to me as a young gardener)
"Dig wider and deeper"

"A Cube is a Rectangle (selections)"
2022–present
Ink and acrylic on Bristol vellum
3.75" x 4.6" each
Photographer: Nathan Keay

For the first time ever, I'm going to be an artist in residence. My residency will be at Art in the Park, a community art center near my home. I'm building and programming a garden for a duration of a year. The following is the in progress press release, as well as the seeds I'll be growing and images of the space in its current "before" state.

Draft 9/17/2025

Holding Seeds, Lucia Fabio — Artist in Residence at Art in the Park

November 1, 2025–November 1, 2026
Opening Saturday, November 1st from 2–5pm
Programming that afternoon includes a seed distribution with seeds from Azita Banu and Carolina Caycedo's work, Life at the Center (2024)

Seeds hold the knowledge to germinate and grow into resilient plants that nourish scores of people, and they connect us to our ancestors and tell our story of humanity. Throughout time, we have carried seeds with us, simultaneously tracing our migratory patterns and deepening our connections to indigenous lands. By saving seeds today, we guarantee that future generations will be able to connect to the past. There is solace and strength in continuing a lineage of seed keeping.

Over the course of a year at Art in the Park, Lucia Fabio will build and tend a garden that emphasizes ancestral knowledge of seed collection, while collecting oral histories pertaining to seeds and growing cycles. Fabio's parents are immigrants from Longi, a small mountain village in Sicily, where generations of her family have lived in close relationship to the land. By focusing on germinating her late mother's seeds, Fabio will explore her family's ancestral growing practices. The garden will allow her to heal, learn, and share knowledge while creating space for others to do the same. There will be times throughout the year when the garden will seem dead or untidy, but the plants will actually be in their ideal form for harvesting the next generation. Fabio will gather wisdom and rely on the guidance of her family members, seed stewards, and members of the plant community as the garden unfolds. Programming will include garden days, seed distributions, workshops, and conversations. In addition to caring for her mother's seeds, Fabio will germinate, distribute, and establish native plants around AITP. At the end of the year, the garden will become a permanent fixture and continue to grow and adapt to the needs of the community. The culmination of the residency will result in an exhibition that will present Fabio's research and incorporate works by artists who use plants as a means to connect to their ancestors and create bridges to the future.

The residency will be dictated by the lunar planting calendar—a traditional and ancient agricultural guide based on the phases of the moon used by many cultures as a natural timekeeping method. Instead of following a schedule of convenience based on the hustle and bustle of daily life, Fabio will instill slowness, intentionality, and an observation of natural rhythms in her gardening practice to inspire a deeper connection with the earth and its cycles. By presenting the entirety of a plant's life cycle—germination, growth, and seed stage—Fabio hopes to demystify the growing process. Because a garden is a living being, Fabio will make adjustments during the course of the residency in response to its changing needs and character as the plants mature in their unique ways. Inter-generational participation is encouraged as the residency programs are open to people of all ages, young and elder.

This residency was inspired by the loving memory of Giovanna Fabio, Irma Goetz, Bertha Sosa, and all mothers who have left this realm. We tend to and nurture seeds for the next generation in honor of mothers and everyone who came before.

Bio
Lucia Fabio is an artist, curator and researcher. She tends to work collectively and has curated exhibitions at REDCAT, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Heritage Square Museum, and ONE Archives at the USC Library. Fabio's practice as a garden volunteer and educator had led her to produce programming that utilizes her knowledge of plants—knowledge gleaned from her Sicilian family who have been farmers for generations. This includes her public program for CURRENT LA: Food where she connected our life cycle with that of plants. She creates phenomenological experiences for the viewer: grounding them in their bodies while taking note of their senses as they realize a greater connectivity to their environment and others.

Programming during the opening:
Life at the Center Seed Distribution
Seeds that were part of Carolina Caycedo's exhibition, We Place Life at the Center at VPAM will be given away at four distinct times over the year, corresponding to the beginning of each growing season. These seeds were part of the work by Azita Banu and Carolina Caycedo. Life at the Center (2024), an installation of four seed mandalas which include seeds from plants that grow well in this climate, as well as seasonal and native plants from the Chumash and Tongva territories. Learn about the seeds and how to tend them with Azita Banu.