new church life: jan uary / february 201 4
two paintings for each of the 100 species in the book, which took him a year.
Frank has gone on weekly plant walks with a group of fellow students of
local plant life for about 13 years. After several years of painting, and then
mostly photographing the plants, he decided to do a flower book – with the
help of a botanical advisor – which was published by the Arizona Sonora
Desert Museum in 2011. Then a book of Frank’s photographs, Mountain Trees
of Southern Arizona, was published last year.
“For a while I thought that I had published my last nature book, when
Jim Verrier, a grass expert and one of my consultants for the first two books,
approached me and asked if I would do a book about grasses with him.” This
book should be ready for publication in 2015. Meanwhile, on his new blog,
Frank will show his photographs and paintings, and tell his nature stories.
From Frank Rose’s blog
– On Stones and Grasses – October, 27, 2013:
One of my last finds turned
out to be a grass introduced
from South Africa, Natal
grass (Melinis repens). This
is one I have noticed for
many years, since its pink
and white flowering heads
are so decorative and can be
seen for several miles along
the highway. One picture
shows it all white. The closeup reveals the incredible
beauty of the pink and white
hairs and the little yellow
flowers. Too bad it is an
invasive plant. It is really
quite lovely.”
Natal Grass
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