Regeneration of Parc d S 'Albufera and beautiful things with Claudia

WILDFIRES are devastating for many animals and for humans and their belongings, but many plant species are able to resist and recover their populations shortly thereafter. After all, fire is a natural phenomenon. Pyrophyte species are plant species, which, as their etymology says, like fire and when they survive this disturbance, they will have at their disposal, as a general rule, a large amount of nutrients from the ashes and other burned organic remains. In fact, these species are favoured by virulent fires since they eliminate other species that may be competing with them for resources. The re-sprouting pyrophyte species are capable of burning completely but saving the trunk and the roots,and although they appear to be dead, they really are not.

Then there are other types of pyrophytic plants where their individuals do die after a fire, but they have seeds that perfectly withstand fires without losing their germination capacity. These species are the ones that endure the strongest fires, since they do not care if everything is destroyed. They trust that after the death of all species, their seeds will be the first to colonize. The Parc de S’Albufera will soon be green again!

Beautiful Gifts, Amazing Wall Art with Claudia Kruppel

For this weeks article I was lucky enough to catch up with a very talented lady who uses plants in works of art. Claudia Kruppel from Plant Presents and Moos Style, is orginially from Germany but had lived in Australia for many years until after a short holiday in Majorca earlier this year, she and her husband found themselves ‘stuck’ here. Unable to return to Australia, her business and her life, Claudia cheerfully says she could find worse places to be stuck and she and her husband are happy to stay, indeed may stay longer term.

Three years ago Claudia decided to have a change of career from I.T and she retrained as a florist using her talent and passion for plants to build up one of her businesses Plant Presents. These photographs, of a small part of her work show how talented she is. Speaking of her ‘mini gardens’ Claudia shows an obvious delight for working with these small plants so it’s no surprise to learn that once finding herself here she quickly swung into work and has created some wonderful pieces.

In addition to Plant Presents which concentrates on some truly tiny and beautiful ‘gardens’ with succulents but also includes a vast array of other pieces with flowers, plants, fruits, vegetables and foliage, Claudia creates amazing pieces of wall art with treated mosses and other treated real plants such as ferns. The natural materials that she uses are treated in such a way with glycerine so that the plants retain their natural movement and flexibility making them tactile as well as visually stunning. The wall pieces absorb noise and have been created as being perfect for offices, hotels and the walls of many commercial ventures or peoples homes on the island. It’s vertical gardening on another level.

Speaking again of the smaller plants Claudia tells me she has also made a variety of jewellery, hair pieces and table pieces from these tiny succulents which she admits to being particularly fond of and fascinated by. The pieces we looked at were planted on mosses and when they outgrow their surrounds they can simply be planted in the garden and then more baby plants harvested from them in time. A true gift that keeps giving. Humour and wit are evident in her pieces such as the sea urchin’s pictured and reflect her love of living and working in Mallorca by the sea. Claudia sees art and possibilities in many many different items, who would have thought of decorating a pumpkin with a succulent ‘garden’ but the effect is both humorous and very clever. In a fabulous example of how working with plants of any shape or size in a garden or inside can be therapeutic, Claudia says using her talents in this way is what makes her very happy and that much is evident in her creations.

Insta: Moosstyle by Claudia/Plant Presents