Goodbye Arthur

They mean one thing to one person, another thing to another person; they are unintelligible to one generation, plain as a pikestaff to the next. And it is because of this complexity that they survive. Perhaps then one reason why we have no great poet, novelist or critic writing to-day is that we refuse words their liberty. We pin them down to one meaning, their useful meaning, the meaning which makes us catch the train, the meaning which makes us pass the examination. And when words are pinned down they fold their wings and die.

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—	Virginia Woolf on words. (via explore-blog)

christopherschreck:

In June 1936, the MoMA presented “Edward Steichen’s Delphiniums,” the museum’s first (and, to date, only) exhibition dedicated to living plantlife.

Steichen, a celebrated photographer, curator, and painter, was also a dedicated horticulturalist whose specialized in breeding delphiniums. Among the hybridized breeds he developed were “Carl Sandburg,” named for the Nobel Prize–winning poet and author (who was also his brother-in-law), and “Connecticut Yankees,” which remain commercially available today.

Steichen’s breeds were particularly noteworthy for their height. His application of colcichine, a chemical mutagen that induces chromosome doubling, ensured that while the normal delphinium of the day was three to four feet tall, Steichen’s often stood as much as seven feet.

An excerpt from the exhibition’s original press release:

“The Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53 Street, announces a very unusual one-man, one-week show which will be opened to the public Wednesday, June 24, at one p.m. It will be an exhibition of “Steichen Delphiniums” — rare now American varieties developed through twenty-six years of cross-breeding and selection by Edward Steichen. Although Mr. Steichen is widely known for his photography, this is the first time his delphiniums have been given a public showing. They are original varieties, as creatively produced as his photographs. To avoid confusion, it should be noted that the actual delphiniums will be shown in the Museum — not paintings or photographs of them. It will be a “personal appearance” of the flowers themselves.

The delphiniums will be shown in relays at the Museum of Modern Art. The first group starting Wednesday, June 24th will consist of the garden hybrids of the true-blue or pure-blue colors, and the fog and mist shades. The final group, with giant spikes in the Metropolitan area from four to six feet high, will be placed on exhibition Monday,June 29th. “

You can read the press release in its entirety HERE.

Edward Steichen with delphiniums (c. 1938) at his farm, Umpawaug House (Redding, Connecticut)

These bromeliads have been stuck in this planter tub for years upon years (possibly 15 years), so I finally got them out and planted them in the new patch under the moreton bay fig.

Finally got out and cleared the area under our Moreton Bay Fig. The whole area had been covered in Rheo plant (which the dog was highly allergic too). Mum and I kept imaging we were on a forensic squad.