Daily pick of flowers and grass

Tetsuhiro Wakabayashi and his wildflower calendar

六月天,梅雨季,天氣潮濕陰沉,路上卻驚艷處處,毛地黃、酢漿草、燕子花、長萼瞿麥……在路邊開得燦燦爛爛。野花野草教平淡日子充滿生氣,看著看著,季節性的納悶便煙消雲散。

花草每月每季變化萬千,畫家若林哲博每天在路上撿花拾草,花了整整一年時間,制作出這份植物日曆。日曆之上,野花雜草被編成一個個日子,配上手寫的月份,就成為簡單而溫暖的月曆了。這些花草,都是當天若林哲博於散步的路上搜集回來的。春天溫暖固然悠然自得,然而在冬天白雪藹藹的日子,要尋找適合的花草卻非易事,每次出門時不免戰戰兢兢,然而,只要仔細看,定能找到美好的植物。

若木哲博的植物月曆之上,沒有記載當天為星期幾,因此同一副月曆,今年用過了,明年也能重用,即使撕下來,貼在牆上也能成為美麗的裝飾。

June comes and unfolds the rainy season. The high humidity unexpectedly brings to the street delightful surprises, as foxgloves, oxalis, Japanese iris and Dianthus superbus blossom together along the sidewalk. Wildflowers and wild grass bring great vigour to the dull and repetitive life; their presence seems to have the power to brighten the dreary rainy season.

Appearances of plants change in different months and seasons. The painter Tetsuhiro Wakabayashi spent a whole year picking up flowers and grass from the street to create a plants calendar. The homey calendar has dates of collages of wildflowers and weeds that pair with handwritten months. The plants were all picked up by Wakabayashi during his stroll. While the task was relatively easy during warm springtime, it could get very challenging to look for suitable plants when the roads were covered by winter snow. During wintertime, he had to pay extra attention and be exceptionally alert to spot beautiful plants.

Wakabayashi did not specify day of the week in his plants calendar, therefore it can be reused every year. A torn page from the calendar alone can as well be an elegant poster on the wall.

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