The garden of Castle Baexem is almost completely taken over by green fields, growing out of control. I caught sight of a fritillary that disappeared in between overgrowth of a taller kind. Its speckled cup sallow, the stem frail like an old cat.

Expired quietly, like most plants do.

The American Edward Steichen (1879-1973), photographer and painter, was a keen delphinium grower. Those sky-high mulleins, often in a dazzling shade of blue, lose their perfect condition within a week.

Steichen, pioneer in bio-art, organized an exhibition at the MOMA in 1936: Edward Steichen's Delphiniums. Read his handwritten press release here.

Photo: Installation view of the exhibition, Edward Steichen's Delphiniums. June 24, 1936 through July 1, 1936. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Photograph by Edward Steichen.

The fox ate my chicken.

There's a new hutch now, elevated. So the fox can pass below it. For 25 years, conceptual artist Koen Vanmechelen has been crossbreeding world's chickens into a Super Bastard for his Cosmopolitan Chicken Project. Dutch chicken gene-submission comes from an old breed: the Uilebaard. This hen is in a painting by Jan Steen.

Worldwide, there are eight farms so far, ten generations of chickens and 700 new chicken types. I think the project is great.

Then I made a call: 'Can I have one of those chickens?'.
But those chickens belong to art, so that was out of the question.