May - Summer Season Therapeutic Horticulture Project
Hammer and Flower Project
(Best when fresh flowers available)
MATERIALS
1. Watercolor paper or paper
with some texture to it to
absorb pigment. White or
off-white is best but pastel
works.
2. Wooden or metal seafood
mallets or small
construction mallets and
regular hammers.
3. Flowers and petals of
annuals or perennials.
Amaranthus and celosia
work very well. Flowers
that are not good cut
flowers are good for this
project. Flowers past their
prime are good for this
project. Leaves also work,
the more color the better
(like Japanese maple
leaves). Fall leaves are too
dry.
4. Paper towels in a roll or,
even better, the kind that are folded for paper towel dispensers.
5. Toothpicks for taking the pounded flowers or leaves off the paper.
6. Card stock in light color for making the artwork in to cards.
7. Glue stick for attaching watercolor paper to cards.
8. Stickers (optional) with the name of the facility and “made by” for the back of
the card.
9. Pens for signing names or labeling plant types (optional).
10. Acrylic finishing spray (optional).
PREPARATION
1. Purchase watercolor paper, paper towels, cardstock. Paper towels may be
available at the facility rest rooms but ask permission to use any supplies.
2. Cut and fold cardstock, one letter size page folded in half will avoid cutting.
Stickers can be attached before the activity or during.
3. Cut watercolor paper about 3.5” x 10” to fit on the folded card with a border.
4. Borrow crab hammers from all your friends and regular hammers so each
resident has their own or one for every two residents. All different kinds will
work and give different effects.
5. Pick flowers and leaves. Often the facility will have lots of annuals can be
deadheaded for petals and leaves. Impatiens and begonias have lots of
pigment and they work well. Transport the flowers rolled in paper or tissue to
help dry them out.
6. If the flowers are very damp they will just go SPLAT instead of transferring
pigment to the paper.
7. Option - Assisted Living residents can remove any thick or squishy parts of the
flowers but Memory Care residents will need this done before they hammer.
Or they can just pound and the squishy parts will give a different effect.
8. Surface should be a table that can take some pounding. Flimsy card tables are
not good since they bounce.
DURING PROGRAM, PARTICIPANTS WILL
1. Pull flowers apart and explore the structure/scent/color of the parts
2. Arrange flowers and leaves on watercolor paper
3. Cover the design with a paper towel and pound it with a hammer. A light touch
with the hammers (even less than most participants can swing it) is much more
effective than really pounding hard.
4. Remove paper towel to reveal the design, remove pieces of plants
5. Glue watercolor paper to cardstock to make a card
6. Apply sticker on the back and sign (Optional)
DISCUSSION
1. Name of plant, characteristics, etc.
2. Discuss the types of flowers and leaves and the colors we see
3. Talk about the function of color in nature
4. Discuss favorite colors of the plant material provided
5. Discuss the sources of dye historically
SUGGESTED SOURCES FOR SUPPLIES:
Paper, glue, acrylic spray: Arts and crafts store or office supply store.
Plant material: Around the facility, the Demo Garden Therapeutic Horticulture
section, MGs home gardens
Hammers: Borrow from friends, order cheap ones online or go to a local kitchen
store and buy them for about $3 each (can probably find them for less than this)
Prepared by Brighton Gardens Master Gardeners: Marsha Barnes, Lily Bruch, Jane Halpin and
Barbara Dunn ( [email protected])
3/11
From the internet, see link
http://buildmakecraftbake.com/2009/04/how-to-hammered-flower-and-leaf-prints.html
From Our Groups:
Color in Flowers and Leaves: WHY so beautiful?
http://plantphys.info/plants_human/pollenadapt.shtml
A: To attract pollinators - insects or birds or other animals. Can you think of some
pollinators? Bees, butterflies, birds, bats, mammals like raccoons etc.
Some species use a color pattern known as a "bull's eye" to mark their position in the
environment...to stand out against a background of green foliage.
Blackeyed susan Rudbeckia
Notice its obvious bull's eye target
appearance. The bull's eye is black and
the yellow ring surrounds it to make it quite
noticeable.
The daylily (Hemerocallis) also shows a
prominent bull's eye, but notice how the
color pattern is reversed. The bull's eye is
light in color and the ring around it is very
dark. The effect is the same however, the
flower is going to be obvious to a potential
pollinator flying overhead.
It is important that whatever color pattern is
used is within the visible range of colors
observable by the pollinator. Colors obvious to
one animal may be invisible to another.
Gaillardia (blanket flower). This species obviously uses a
yellow bull's eye with surrounding red and yellow rings.
One gets the appearance of a dartboard just looking at it.
The pollinator visiting is butterflies. Butterflies definitely are
attracted to red/yellow patterns, and they need the large
landing platform provided by this wide flower.
On the other hand, Gaillardia does not limit its
pollination to just butterflies. An afternoon of
observation will tell you that even more visits are made
by honeybees! Bees have no ability to perceive red
colors, so how does that red/yellow pattern look to a
bee? Like a good place to find nectar!!
Nectar guides are color patterns that radiate out from the source of the nectar reward.
Like paint on an airport runway, they essentially guide the pollinator to the reward.
Background information about flower pigments:
http://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/pubs/oh24colr.htm
And a few more facts here, for the Master Gardener:
The primary function of pigments in plants is Photosynthesis, which uses the green pigment Chlorophyll along with
several red and yellow pigments that help to capture as much light energy as possible.
Other functions of pigments in plants include attracting insects to flowers to encourage Pollination.
Plant pigments include a variety of different kinds of molecule, The light that is absorbed may be used by the plant to
power chemical reactions, while the reflected wavelengths of light determine the color the pigment will appear to the eye.
Chlorophyll is the primary pigment in plants; it is a chlorin that absorbs yellow and blue wavelengths of light while
reflecting green. It is the presence and relative abundance of chlorophyll that gives plants their green color. All land plants
and green algae possess two forms of this pigment: chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. Kelps,diatoms,and other
photosynthetic heterokonts contain chlorophyll c instead of b, while red algae possess only chlorophyll a. All chlorophylls
serve as the primary means plants use to intercept light in order to fuel photosynthesis.
Carotenoids are red, orange, or yellow tetraterpenoids. They function as accessory pigments in plants, helping to
fuel photosynthesis by gathering wavelengths of light not readily absorbed by chlorophyll. The most familiar carotenoids
are carotene (an orange pigment found in carrots), lutein (a yellow pigment found in fruits and vegetables),
and lycopene (the red pigment responsible for the color of tomatoes). Carotenoids have been shown to act
asantioxidants and to promote healthy eyesight in humans.
Anthocyanins (literally "flower blue") are water-soluble flavonoid pigments that appear red to blue, according to pH. They
occur in all tissues of higher plants, providing color in leaves, plant stem, roots, flowers, and fruits, though not always in
sufficient quantities to be noticeable. Anthocyanins are most visible in the petals of flowers, where they may make up as
much as 30% of the dry weight of the tissue.They are also responsible for the purple color seen on the underside of
tropical shade plants such as Tradescantia zebrina; in these plants, the anthocyanin catches light that has passed through
the leaf and reflects it back towards regions bearing chlorophyll, in order to maximize the use of available light.
Betalains are red or yellow pigments. Like anthocyanins they are water-soluble, but unlike anthocyanins they are indolederived compounds synthesized from tyrosine. This class of pigments is found only in
the Caryophyllales (including cactus and amaranth), and never co-occur in plants with anthocyanins. Betalains are
responsible for the deep red color of beets, and are used commercially as food-coloring agents.
Flower color significance also depends on the specific pollinator. For instance, bees are attracted to bright blue and
violet colors. Hummingbirds prefer red, pink, fuchsia, or purple flowers. Butterflies enjoy bright colors such as yellow,
orange, pink, and red.
Night-blooming flowers take advantage of pollinators active at night, like moths and bats. Since they don’t see
colors, these flowers are not as colorful. Instead, the flower’s fragrance attracts these pollinators.
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Chlorophyll, the green pigment, is present in all plants. Chlorophyll is produced through photosynthesis, the
process by which plants transform sunlight into food. When deciduous plant leaves change in the fall and winter,
losing their green color, it's because the plant has stopped producing chlorophyll. Plants go dormant, losing all
their foliage, when they stop creating chlorophyll and photosynthesizing. Chlorophyll is responsible for green
leaves and flower petals.
Carotenoids are the yellow and orange pigments found in flowers. The name hints at the colors carotenoids
create; it's responsible for the orange found in carrots. Carotenoids create the yellow and orange tones found in
sunflowers, marigolds, buttercups, tiger lilies and many other flowers and plants. Carotenoids form in plants and
flowers during the growing season.
Flavonoids are responsible for the widest range of colors in flowers. Flavonoid pigments are responsible for blue
through red flower shades -- all reds, pinks, purples and blues. Freesia, gladiolus, roses, iris, orchids, lavender
and many other flowers gain color through flavonoid pigments.
Flower colors serve a function in nature by drawing the attention of pollinating insects. Flowers need bees and
other insects to spread pollen from flower to flower, which makes it possible for the plant to produce seeds. But
flower colors do not always stay the same. Some flowers change colors after they have been pollinated, or once
they've aged past the point of pollination. Lungwords, delphinium and forget-me-nots change from blue to pink.
But flowers may not "actually" change color, rather the "perception" may change. This can vary with people-men tend to see primary colors such as blue or green, women more distinctions such as turquoise or
chartreuse. Perceptions among genders is actually related to differences in genetic eye anatomy.
Read more: Different Flower Pigments | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8384638_different-flowerpigments.html#ixzz1oBcVDgsJ
Uses for plant pigment
Grain Amaranths are grown globally for their nutritious seed, their young
leaves are used similar to spinach. Older leaves and flowers are boiled
and used for dye. Hopi Native Americans use the flowers to make deep
pink dye for Piki Bread, a stone-baked flatbread made from cornmeal.
http://www.pioneerthinking.com/crafts/crafts-basics/naturaldyes.html
For a good link about plant dyes.