| 473 |
Black Bamboo
Phyllostachys nigra. Drawn at home in the Napa Valley from a plant in our garden. Bamboo probably has more written about it than any other kind of grass. A great impetus has been given to the collecting and cultivation of bamboo by the American Bamboo Society, whose publications are not only informative but very interesting as well. My own interest in bamboo is one of may years standing, and my collection of plants now includes some rare and exotic species. —Henry Evans
350 copies were printed and sell for $50.00 each.
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| 525 |
Grass
The drawing was made from some grass growing wild near our home in the Napa Valley. There are parts of our property that we devote to gardening, and very soon in this process a crisis arises: do you pull out the wild things that infringe on the growing space you have given to persimmons, rhubarb, tomatoes, figs, raspberries, currants, and the like? Being a very eccentric gardener, I don't pull out the wild things except in extremis. I theorize that there should be room for all of us. I let everything grow until something that I have planted is being choked out—then, even the natives will be pulled! —Henry Evans
224 copies were printed and sell for $50.00 each.
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| 536 |
Grass
An unidentified grass drawn at Fallon, Nevada, in the summer garden of Susan and Rod McCormick. I was taken with its form and with the visual dilemma it seems to represent: extremely tender fresh green leaves forming a very angular pattern. Where are the lilting curves we usually see in the new leaves of grass? Nature is truly prodigal in its unending variety of forms and moods. I suspect that, if I were to go back to Fallon in the fall, my angular friends would have become older, mellow, and voluptuously curved. —Henry Evans
150 copies were printed and sell for $50.00 each.
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| 560 |
Timothy
Phleum pratense. Introduced from Europe, where it is native, Timothy is not naturalized all the way to the Pacific Coast. It is widely grown as a hay crop to be fed to livestock with either one of the clovers or another of the grasses. The unusual common name is not from a classical reference but is derived from the first name of the man who brought it from England to Maryland in1720: Timothy Hanson. I collected these specimens in a vacant lot in Napa, and I made the drawing at home in St. Helena, California. —Henry Evans
175 copies were printed and sell for $50.00 each.
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| 565 |
Dry Wild Oats
Avena species. Drawn at Point Lobos (near Monterey, California) in a fortuitous combination of circumstances. How wonderfully wild the water was, leaping and crashing against the rocks, while, just a few hundred yards back from the shore, this fragile bit of grass recalled the summer sun and the melodious calls of birds. On this windy winter day, aware of no man-made sounds, I saw the delicate forms of the oat, which suggested old age and antiquity. Back through the millions of years needed for its evolution, its cycle of growth and reproduction has been repeated countless times. It is widespread to the point of being common, and yet, like all forms of beauty, it is fresh and startling each time we come upon it. —Henry Evans
130 copies were printed and sell for $50.00 each.
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| 570 |
Green Wild Oat
Avena species. Drawn in our "front yard," flourishing among mustard, radish, dandelion, and a dozen assorted wild grasses. It seemed like a perfect idea, after the desiccated winter version shown in #565, to remind you that this can be one of the lushest wild grasses anywhere. Rich and ripe, the seeds hang heavily and display the pride of success. —Henry Evans
125 copies were printed and sell for $100.00 each.
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| 571 |
Foxtails
Alopecurus species. The drawing was made in front of our lawnless house in St. Helena, California. Munz lists eight species of this wondrous weed, the bane of cats and dogs and woolly socks. The genus name is derived from two Greek words: Alopex (meaning fox), and oura (meaning tail). Albert Spear Hitchcock (1865ö1935) compiled a Manual of the Grasses of the United States, which was revised by Agnes Chase and published by the Department of Agriculture in 1964 as Miscellaneous Publication 200. It is, in my opinion, one of the great botanical books of our time. Not only does it show and tell about foxtails but, in its 1051 pages, there are myriad facts about, and 1199 illustrations of, all the grasses that have been found in the United States. For anyone with a special interest in grasses, this book is essential. —Henry Evans
130 copies were printed and sell for $50.00 each.
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| 572 |
Rattlesnake Grass
Briza maxima. Drawn in the studio from specimens picked along our road in St. Helena, California. Roger Grounds, in his excellent book Ornamental Grasses, lists 15 common names for this plant, which to me indicates a very widespread awareness of this lovely grass. Hortus Third speculates that there are about 20 species of Briza, all of European origin. This plant is undoubtedly one of the finest for use in dry arrangements. —Henry Evans
150 copies were printed and sell for $100.00 each.
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| 627 |
Dried Sedge
Cyperus species. I love the way the sedges are so spiky green and aggressive when they are growing in the wet roadside ditches. Then, when they dry, the straight lines and points all vanish, and the flowing curves of dryness start to develop until they finally remind me of swirling classic Greek robes flowing in the wind. I found this specimen beside a dirt back road in Mendocino County, California, and I dried it in my studio until it looked very ancient and very friendly. —Henry Evans
110
copies were printed and sell for $500.00 each.
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