Jill Wooten Makes Chicken Dishes

Jill's craft will be offered as a fundraiser at Bloomin' Deal

May 3, 2003 -- Grand Junction, Colorado

Jill Wooten is shown here constructing a "Chicken Dish." John Moore insists they should be called peacock dishes for their beauty.

Jill calls it a chicken dish because she uses Hens and Chicks (sempervivum) and other succulents to plant her dish gardens. (And here I thought it was a culinary entrée!) She explains that she got the idea from her mother-in-law who, while dividing or thinning plants from her garden, tossed a bunch of plants on an old garbage can lid for planting later. The poor things got neglected, but instead of dying, they flourished and the old lid became a thing of beauty.

Sempervivum contains over 40 species of rosette shaped succulents, native from Europe, eastern Asia, and northern Africa. They are among the most frost resistant succulents, and as such are the most common succulent in gardens that get more than a light frost. Sempervivum comes from the Latin for 'always alive', referring to its toughness.

Jill starts with a plastic planter tray, spray paints it and applies a patina. She fills it with a soil mix of vermiculite, potting soil and gravel. She adds lacquered rocks and arranges the succulents around the dish. She tops it off with a mulch of small colorful stones.

Jill demonstrated her art at a workshop at Meadowlark Garden Saturday, May 3rd. Jill's Chicken Dishes will be available for sale at the Botanical Garden's Bloomin' Deal event on Saturday, May 10th. She is donating her craft as a fundraiser for WCGF.

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Last modified: 07/25/07