The biennale opens with an empty Guard House.
"Over lunch during the install of Gabrielle de Vietri’s work, Garden of Bad Flowers, one helper commented that we are courting trouble at the Farm by bringing hundreds of bad little seedlings...." - Letting Mara In: Installing the Garden of Bad Flowers, Earlwood Farm (3 April 2014 )
'Artist Gabrielle de Vietri, who headed the campaign...
"We are going to pursue this through divestment workshops and seeing how much more we can affect this policy through targeting the companies that are profiting from mandatory detention," she said.' ...Biennale protesters not about to ease up on Transfield, SMH 10 March 2014
GABRIELLE DE VIETRI: This is a global issue that we're dealing with, and Australia is actually, horrifyingly, providing a model for other countries to adopt for treatment of asylum seekers, and that's really scary."...ABC PM: More artists withdraw from Sydney Biennale Rachael Brown reported this story on Wednesday, March 5, 2014 18:44:00
Cockatoo Island Site
The garden is to be installed in the Military Guard House and Isolation Cells on Cockatoo Island. Planter boxes were in place on 21 February 2014.
Wahlenbergia gracilis
(Australian Bluebell)
16 October 2008
Pelargonium australe
1st October 2008
Photographer: Viki Alonso
Isotomo - Lobelacia Family - Piper St Bushland - 6 April 2009 - Photographer: Marghanita da Cruz
Geranium homeanum
Orphan's Gully, Forest Lodge
29 October 2009
Photographer: Marghanita da Cruz
Hardenbergia (native wisteria)
Photographer: Viki Alonso
The following tubestock were set aside, for Gabrielle, at the Nursery:- 10 x Pelargonium australe
- 10 x Geranium homeanum
- 10 xDodonea triquetraa (larger/"yellow" plants in photo)
- 3x Isotomo - Lobelacia Family
- Wahlenbergia gracilis is growing and bloomin in a few of the above tubes
Gabrielle's requested (email 11 Dec 2013) a revised list of plants from the Nursery for the end of January.
Ficus rubiginosa - donated by Ken - one large and one or two small bonsai
trees.
Carpobrotus spp - donated by Marghanita - 50 tubes [Marghanita offered one pot which would spread quickly at end of January.
Bunya pine - on loan from RBCN
Wahlenbergia gracilis - 12-25 tubes
Lobelia dentata - 20-40 tubes
Geranium - 20 tubes
a few more matches and would be very grateful if RBCN would be able to provide some of these as well.
HERBS
Hypericum gramineum Small St John's WortClusiaceae 0.2
Hypericum japonicum Matted St John's WortClusiaceae 0.3
Solanum pungetium Jagged NightshadeSolanaceae 0.2containerpurple
Veronica plebia Eastern SpeedwellScrophulariaceae 0.2ground coverblue
SHRUBS
Dodonea triquetraa Hop Bush Sapidaceae - injustice
Epacris longiflora Fuchsia Heath Epacridaceae
Epacris pulchella NSW Coral Heath Epacridaceae
Epacris purpurescens Port Jackson Heath Epacridaceae
CLIMBERS
Desmodium variansVariable Tic-trefoil Fabaceae
Links to Cornucopia and Marrickville Nursery's webpages, corrected below.
On the list of "Bad Flowers" was Ficus rubiginosa (Port Jackson Fig). It transpired that Ken had a Bonsai one that was looking for a home.
As the nursery, didn't have any Carpobrotus spp (Coastal pigface (n)), Marghanita offered to grow some, from her garden.
The nursery's tame Bunya Pine, rescued from Callan Park, was offered in between its appointments as the Christmas Tree. Some of the other plants on Gabrielle's list were Wahlenbergia gracilis (Australian Bluebell), Lobelia dentata (n) and Geranium. The nursery grows and has planted Wahlenbergia gracilis, Lobelacia Isotomo, Hardenbergia and pelargonium australis.
Other potential sources of plants were Randwick, Cornucopia Nursery, Marrickville Community Nursery and Strathfield Council Native Nursery. Mount Annan and Mount Tommah, as well as the Sydney Botanical gardens are other potential sources of plants and information.
Different plants flower at different times of the year, the exhibition is from March to June. Soil, Light, Water and Flowering Months of Local Provenance Shrubs, Large Trees and Small Trees. There are also herbs, estuarine and climbing plants.
The 19th Biennale of Sydney approached the Nursery to assist Australian artist: Gabrielle de Vietri to create a seasonal garden at Cockatoo Island.