STORY BEHIND THE ART OF ROBIN JESS

Wildly Exquisite: Florida’s Native Plants

Sweet Bay

Magnolia virginiana

Wild magnolia, sweetbay, or swamp magnolia—by any name, it is beautifully fragrant. All magnolias have a scent, but Magnolia virginiana has a sweet, slightly spicy, heavy aroma that lingers in your mind long after you’ve inhaled it. Sweetbay grows northward as far as southern New Jersey, and finding a tree in bloom was an early June ritual of my childhood. My mother remembered exactly where they grew—along damp wood edges; and I carried a flower in the center of my wedding bouquet. Now I have a small tree in my garden. It is slow growing and likes to have coverage (mulch or live grass) over its roots to keep them shaded--leaves in sun, roots in damp.

Painting the magnolia in watercolor was challenging due to its creamy white petals and shiny, waxy leaves. I left the white of the paper for the petals and leaf highlights. Many layers of paint were built up to create the darks. It was a joy painting this wild magnolia while its fragrance wafted through my studio.

Prickly Pear

Opuntia humifusa

In dry, scrubby areas nearly bare of plants, a miraculous show appears in late June in the form of glorious yellow cactus flowers. In other parts of the country, prickly pear flowers are nicknamed desert roses, a good description. The large flat “pads” or “paddles” of the Opuntia are modified stems, and the spines are modified leaves. In spring, the pads fill out and provide an interesting texture and color in the garden. Prickly pears need to be planted away from interaction with man and beast as the spines are very irritating. We have ours in a large pot, so we can see its beauty without mistakenly stepping on it.

Floating the washes to create the large matte-textured pads was scary, and I am happy with how they turned out. I am always attracted to that gray-green color. On the other hand, yellow is a difficult color for me, but again, I was pleased with the result. It is so easy for yellow to appear greenish or orangey. I used a very restrained hand with neutral tint to get the shadows in the flowers.

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