A wonderful coincidence.

On Monday morning I was sitting at my computer and listening to the radio when I received an email from my friend Richard which introduced me to artist Lloyd Godman and his beautiful Tillandsia sculptures.

I've already sent out an email to all our friends on this subject but I forgot to mention that it coincided with another event on the radio at the same time.

Floating wetlands!

You all probably know about floating wetlands but I had no knowledge of them at all. They have much in common with Tillandsia varieties which can flourish in many environments without being attached to the soil. 

So I really enjoyed finding out about both of them during the same couple of minutes in my lifetime. Also because I love the experience of coincidence.

The radio chat was between Virginia Trioli and a guest who was chatting about floating islands for the Yarra River and Port Phillip Bay, about their value and issues relating to them.

Here's a few images where they are situated in the Yarra River:

and here they are at Docklands

 How to build one if you have a fine body of water near your place:

You can see why I was fascinated by this conjunction between Lloyd's sculptures and these floating wetlands. There are so many advantages to these applications.

One huge advantage is that they can be shaped in many ways, large or small, to enable animals to thrive in areas where they are most threatened. 

They also act as water filters to clean up polluted waterways and lakes, as well as human sewage.

They can be constructed from many materials including metals and stabilised plastics, grids, barrels, wire mesh, etc.

Of course one would need to be selective, but most of you would know about plastics which are being used for fences, posts and barriers, which are converted from plastic waste...

• Made in Australia from 100% UV stabilized recycled plastic
• Will not rot rust or be eaten by insects
• Low Maintenance

Matrix Woven Lattice is ideal for screening, shading and It can be used for covering up unsightly areas. it is made from 100% UV stabilised recycled plastic so will provide a low maintenance screening solutions for many years. It is single sided and can be fitted with a C Channel kit to provide extra rigidity and support.

Of course, we all face the overwhelming issue that we cannot recycle enough of our burgeoning plastic waste and that not enough people are buying the recycled offerings such as the above, which would mean that we don't have to send out mountains of waste to third world countries to be recycled there!

Thanks to Lloyd Godman showing us the way with his wonderful Tillandsia sculptures and with the floating wetlands projects, I got inspired! I used to have a dam which was big enough for a floating wetland, but I don't have it any longer. Pity! 

But around my house there are many possibilities for growing Tillandsia to keep out the savages. Last year I was planning to grow organic razor wire:

But the happy coincidence of meeting Lloyd Godman and hearing about floating wetlands on the radio has softened my approach to keeping out the bogans and their progeny.

It's not that I have given up on my organic razor wire project, I just have more options available to me now!

pt

Our friend Alexandra said it's OK to add two of her images:

Phoenix

“Butterflies need recharging too”