The Trees is a song from Hemispheres, the sixth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1978. Written by drummer Neil Peart, it tells the story of conflict between maple and oak trees in the forest. The Trees – Lyrics There is unrest in the forest There is trouble with the trees For …
After orchids, poinsettia is ranked as the UK’s most popular pot plant, yet it’s a plant with a difficult, but familiar story: Removed a long time ago from a poorer nation (Mexico), by Ambassador Poinsett, a representative of a richer nation (USA), it was then distributed, cultivated and sold, creating huge economic reward for the transporter and his nation. …
Photographer Simon Alibert says he ‘doesn’t know a lot about plants‘ but he clearly sees plants everywhere, and captures their interactions in a way that makes us see them too. He also says he’s an ‘amateur photographer’ which we would disagree with, because he has produced many series of impactful artworks – which is more …
The Tower of London Poppies really captured the public’s imagination. It’s hard to think of a previous public art installation that created so much excitement and mass interest. Perhaps the sentiment behind the artwork had a lot to do with this, but for certain the scale, location and resulting visual impact were major factors too. In the aftermath of their glory, …
Marguerite Kelsey and a magnolia by Meredith Frampton, 1928 What an exquisite specimen. The woman is quite lovely too. When Meredith Frampton (1894 – 1984) painted Marguerite Kelsey’s portrait in 1928 he achieved excellence, stunningly matching her particular kind of beauty with a particularly beautiful plant. This is an image that is all about poise and pride, class …
There are so many leaves on London’s streets at the moment. Lots of different colours and shapes. Some of them are so large that you look up expecting to find some huge specimen from which it has fallen, but instead you find yourself under a not particularly tall London plane. Platanus × acerifolia is our …
It’s fascinating to see how much high-end art gets sold for at auction. How wonderful that Georgia O’Keeffe’s painting Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 went for over $44m yesterday at Sotheby’s, New York. It’s about time a female artist moved into the higher echelons of the most expensive artworks ever sold list. The sale price …
The name dandelion comes from the French “dent de lion”, meaning lion’s tooth, which references the toothed edges of the leaves. In flower, it’s a plant that is so common, we scarcely notice it, apart from to designate to weed status when in our way. Yet when it turns to seed, it is appreciated much more: …
With 350,000 flowering plants in the world, plus all the mosses and liverworts, there is an infinite variety of form for artists to render. Yet most of the representations we see, tend to be focused on the flower, and the showiest ones at that; while it’s easy to appreciate a stunning wisteria cascading down a …
If you don’t have a botanical item in your wardrobe this Autumn and Winter, it’s really not worth leaving the house. Whether you are working a floral kaftan dress or leaf tunic, Cool Botanica is where it’s at. Below we show a selection of plant-inspired prints for inspiration. All images link through to our Pinterest …