Seed pods in October

October is an interesting time for observing plants with seed pods in the Australian Plant Communities at Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt.Coot-tha. Quite a few trees are beginning to sprout new foliage, with branches still close to bare, dark pods create striking silhouettes against the sky.

Flowering in October

There are some wonderful showy displays of trees in flower this month to be seen in the Australian Plant Communities. Snow Wood, at the top, covered in hundreds of fluffy ball like blooms in shades of cream to golden yellow is spectacular. Deep red flowers of Tree Waratah can be seen on the tips of upper branches, a strong contrast to surrounding green canopy. Cassia is also in flower with beautiful cascades in butter yellow.

A Walk with the Education Officers

Last week I was joined by Lee-Anne, Paul, Tanja, Gemma, Francis, Helen, Margot and Ann on a visual tour of the Australian Plant Communities. With so many eyes and a wealth of knowledge held by the Education officers, the walk was a wonderful experience of spotting many textures, flowers, new growth and dramatic forms. Thank you all for coming I had a great time and hope you did too.

Paul has put together a great photo story of the walk, you can view it here.

Leaf Litter in October

For part of the time on my walks around the Australian Plant Communities at the Brisbane Botanic gardens Mt.Coot-tha, I am looking at what has fallen on the ground. The accumulated debris of leaves, seed pods and flowers can be a great indicator of nearby plants. There is a lot of leaf drop now as dry weather continues in Brisbane, but again this creates beauty in its own way. Seeds of the Blue Quandong gathered in large drifts on path edges, such an incredible colour amongst the reds, gold and green more commonly seen.

Caldera Art Awards 2009

'Conserve - Develop' ©2009. Nicola Moss.

'Conserve - Develop' is one of forty finalist works selected for the Caldera Art Awards 2009. The awards were established to promote biodiversity values in Australia's Green Cauldron region.

The Caldera Art Awards exhibition will be on show at The Centre, (Scenic Rim Regional Council), 82 Brisbane Street, Beaudesert; from the 16th October to 29th November.

Fabulous Foliage in October

Alectryon tropicus

Garuga floribunda


Barringtonia acutangula Freshwater Mangrove

Each month when I walk around the Australian Plant Communities area at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt.Coot-tha, there are trees to be seen with new leaf growth or foliage changing colour. These are like vibrant accents within the surrounding canopy. Wonderful shades of cool grey green, rust red and orange-green were on show in October.

Growth Patterns - Sapindaceae Family

'Growth Patterns - Sapindaceae Family', 2009. Nicola Moss.

Acrylic, pigmented ink and graphite on assorted acid free papers, plywood panels. 190 x 190mm each.

Artworks from my residency at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt.Coot-tha are starting to come together as finished pieces. 'Growth Patterns' , above, features observations of new growth sprouts, unfurling leaves and flower sprigs of various plant species in the Sapindaceae family.

Works developed from the residency will be exhibited at 'Botanica' held in early December 2009 at the Herbarium in the gardens at Mt.Coot-tha.

Flowers in October

Graptophyllum thorogoodii

Cordyline stricta

Coronidium 'Sunnyside Up'

Anigozanthos "Big Red'

Eremophila bignoniiflora


The Australian Plant Communities area has many plants in flower at the moment, I noticed this month that several were small in scale but striking in form and colour.

October in the Gardens

On my walk around the Australian Plant Communities area at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt.Coot-tha this month, there were a few highlights, one being the wonderful peeling bark on large gum trees. Perhaps their skin is feeling a little dry too, with no recent rain and stong gusty winds . It makes for a dramatic contrast of new and old layers.

Developing Artwork

'Family Traits (series)' detail. ©2009. Nicola Moss.

I am experiencing what feels like an enormous tide of ideas at the moment in response to my residency at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt.Coot-tha. All the months spent observing and taking in details of surrounds, plants, layers and connections has distilled to a time now when I don't have to think about what I want to create. The ideas are flowing freely, as I make artwork more ideas develop, so it feels more like a time of capturing as much as I can...in case I lose it.

There are not many times when I have felt like this working on a project, I put it down to having an extended period of time to absorb and focus ideas before producing works.