Morris was an expert and enthusiastic gardener, although he had no time for flower arranging, preferring that they be simply 'placed'. He observed that behind flower painting lay '..an esoteric line of thought that expresses itself in symbols portraying the eternity of experience that flowers themselves have, not merely of struggle and achievement, but a crystallisation of all past apprehensions'. The pot was given to Morris by Helen Lubbock, later Lady Lubbock.