Month: June 2009

Green bands

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Members of Iran’s national soccer team wore green arm and wrist bands Wednesday during their World Cup qualifying match against South Korea.The team does not normally wear green bands.

Many Iranians are viewing the team’s bands as a sign of support for Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi, although that has not been confirmed.

Green is the campaign color of Moussavi and has been widely worn by his supporters who have staged massive rallies in Tehran before and after last week’s presidential election.

green bands

Wikipedia: The 1968 Olympics Black Power salute was a noted black civil rights protest and one of the most overtly political statements[1] in the 110 year history of the modern Olympic Games. African American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos performed the Power to the People salute at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

black power

Art on the Plant

One of my favorite eye-candy sites (non-gardening) is EnglishRussia (‘Because something cool happens daily on 1/6 of the Earth’s surface”). I have a creepy affinity for all things former-Soviet and Eastern European. And this photo gallery, Art on the Plant, really struck a chord.

art of the plant from english russia

And I love the broken-English (much better than my Russian, for sure) descriptions:

This is the biggest Ural plant “URALMASH”, in order to build it they destroyed thousand of square miles of virgin thousand years old aged forests 60 years ago. It was working thru all the Soviet era and then during the capitalistic phase of modern Russian economy too, but now because of the world’s crisis it has been stopped. Now the rooms of the plant stand still and some artist has completed the nature paintings on the lockers around the plant so that it looks even more creepy now.

But this is still my favorite piece of Soviet arcana …

The soft power of flowers

Over the weekend, I passed along a link to this picture from the streets of Iran to my buddy Julie over at The Human Flower Project, hoping that she’d write something about it. It reminded me of other iconic images from the ’60s and this work by London graffitti artist Banksy.

flower power

Instead, Julie asked me to write a little something. You can read it here.

Thanks for the nudge Julie.

Garden blogger bloom day scans for June

Hat tip as usual to Carol at May Dreams Garden for hosting. More to scan than time to scan it, but here are a couple. Click on images for larger view.

Nectaroscordum siculum ssp. bulgaricum, Tradescantia, Euphorbia griffithii ‘Fireglow’, chives, columbine, lunaria.
june scans

Geranium renardii “Nätnäva”, Veronica ‘Royal Candles’, knautia, peony, various irises.
june scans

Fred’s stones
june scans

Flower bulb grant opportunity

[Full disclosure: I work on The Bulb Projectkids and flower bulbs website (see that tile over in the right hand column), sponsored by the International Flower Bulb Centre and the U.S. Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center (NFBIC), the U.S. press office of the Dutch flower bulb industry.]

Know anyone who works with children or youth who might be interested in diving in to a flower bulb project? Maybe you could team up with a teacher or youth leader, providing some expertise in launching a community beautification or educational project. If that sounds like fun, here’s a grant program that could help your effort by supplying the bulbs to carry out the project.

Just fill out an application (deadline is July 3) describing how your school or organization will use flower bulbs creatively in educational programs with children and youth. The 10 best applicants will receive $250-worth of bulbs for their programs.

Find more information at The Bulb Project website.