The city, Bloemfontein (meaning “flower fountain”)’s name celebrates a spring that nurtured a growth of flowers. The urban stream flowing through the city is now polluted and toxic. The flowers have disappeared. The stream’s condition contrasts the once flourishing environment celebrated in the city’ name. Rehabilitation of the stream is not considered. This speaks to many polluted rivers in other cities. This beautiful and strange Diatom with bacteria grows on plastic trash found in the water. Diatoms are responsible for 40% of the world's oxygen. Diatoms should be acknowledged for their role in environmental sustainability. The image makes a case for an aesthetic of the strange that is forwarded by the new world of the Anthropocene Age. The Diatom grows in the wild in toxic conditions and a "flowering" is now only seen on microlevel. Questions are also raised about the problematic relationships between microplastics and microorganisms and how these relationships shape new forms of growth in unforeseen ways, or on the other hand sadly diminishes the natural environment.