STORY BEHIND THE ART OF GEORGE OLSON

Weird, Wild, & Wonderful

Second New York Botanical Garden Triennial Exhibition

2014 - 2016

Compass Plant, Prairie Dock, & Weird Offspring

Silphium laciniatum, S. laciniatum x terebinthinaceum, S. terebinthinaceum

I selected the hybrid silphium for a weird and wonderful subject partly because it is readily accessible in my own restored prairie just a few feet from its “parents”. Each year its sends up a tall stalk surrounded at the base by huge leaves which combine the impressive size of the prairie dock leaf with the numerous pointed lobes of the compass plant. Hybrid silphium is especially striking in the autumn when the dark brown leaves curl up and take on a sculptural quality. At this stage the leaves resemble medieval carvings of grape vine, acanthus, ivy, oak and other familiar plants. The Silphiums as a group represent the dark brooding side of autumn in the tallgrass prairie, as opposed to the goldenrods, primroses and blackberries which provide a much brighter palette and a more delicate leaf arrangement.

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Read more about this artist's work: 16th Annual International