Promimity Arts:
Vancouver Flower Clock Launch
Sunday June 21 | 1 – 4 PM | By donation
The Vancouver Flower Clock Project is a collaborative online naturalist’s journal based on realizing a garden plan envisioned by Carl Linnaeus (father of modern taxonomy) in his Philosophia Botanica [1751].
Linneaus’ garden takes advantage of certain species of flowers that open their blooms at set times of day to accurately predict the time, in what he described as an horologium florae (floral clock).
Starting from Linnaeus’ original observations from his travels across the Swedish
countryside, Proximity Arts invites the citizens of the Vancouver region to explore our own backyards, back alleys and back country for these species, share their observations on the project’s wikiversity site, and help design a flower clock that is unique to our own latitude, climate and ecology.
Go for a walk and watch the flowers bloom.
Let the flowers be your clock.
Which flower are you?
Use our plant tags to identify specific plants and to let others know about the project. The project also encourages participants to look at our own cultural and aesthetic relationships with these plants. You can post bloom times, comments, sketches, pictures and videos or share a recipe. Add your own botanical know-how to the database and help organize the information as a whole. Everyone can participate.
Proximity Arts will be hosting a garden-style tea party to formally launch the project. Drop by for a wiki tutorial and to learn more about the project. And don’t miss the homemade lemonade and fresh cucumber sandwiches!
Contact Joel DeStefano at 604.216.6706, joel@proximityarts.com or Christine Stoddard at 604.808.3725, christine@proximityarts.com for more information.
