Tag Archives: flowers

Playing with plants

Posted on by
9

Fall means racing season for my husband and me, and this past weekend we headed to Atlanta for a race near there. We arrived early enough on Friday that we had some free time in the afternoon, and so we headed over to the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

In previous trips, we had never carved out enough time to visit for long enough to justify the steep admission fee. I was thrilled to go, especially when I saw what was waiting for us there: a special exhibit of larger than life plant sculptures, called mosaiculture (combining the words mosaic + horticulture).

I have never seen anything like this before, but I love the idea of playing with plants to create mosaic patterns and larger-than-life pieces of art. This living art is the work of Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal, and the Atlanta exhibit is the first major one in the US.

If you live near Atlanta, I highly recommend getting to the botanical gardens before the exhibit closes on October 31. (And if you’re with the Atlanta Botanical Garden, isn’t there a way you could keep a few of the sculptures permanently?)

 

This trip was all about packing light, and so I only had my new cell phone with its improved camera on it. I was pleasantly surprised with the way the photos of the mosaiculture exhibit came out. I couldn’t wait to share them with you!

ABG_Butterfly_2013

One of two giant butterflies at the garden, this was the first of the sculptures I saw.

ABG_Unicorn_2013

At first, I thought this was a horse, but then I saw the unicorn’s horn.

ABG_ShaggyDog_2013

What’s not to love about this shaggy dog?

ABG_GiantBlackberry_2013

A happy giant blackberry. I couldn’t get the light right for a good photo of his friends the strawberry and the blueberry.

ABG_RabbitOne_2013

One of many cute rabbits invading a garden

ABG_RabbitTwo_2013

My favorite of the rabbits

ABG_EarthGoddess_2013

This one is titled Earth Goddess. She’s 25 feet tall and weighs 29 tons! There’s a lot of steel and concrete underneath that natural facade.

ABG_EarthGoddessScale_2013

To help you get an idea of her scale

ABG_DancingFish_2013

These fish rotate together on an axis, and they are aptly named “Dancing fish.”

ABG_CobraOne_2013

Hssss. One of two cobras facing each other as they tower over the garden visitors.

ABG_CobraTail_2013

A detail from one of the cobra’s tails. Now you understand why it’s called mosaiculture, right?

ABG_CobraTwo_2013

The second cobra, with a side view of its hood

Ever since being terrified by the cobras in the animated Rikki-Tikki-Tavi that played on television once a year when I was a child, I have not loved cobras. But I actually think the cobras were my favorite of the sculptures. Which sculpture is your favorite?

Surprises in the garden

Posted on by
6

“I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow.” – David Hobson

_______________________________________

I was at the hardware store this past weekend and overheard two men talking. One had come across a snake in his garden and was buying something (poison? trap? I didn’t look at what he was holding) to get rid of the snake. The other told him if it was a black snake, then he should leave it alone. He went on to say,”If you ever see a black snake out along the roadside, put him in the car and take him home with you.” Ugh.

I know he speaks some truth. Black snakes are supposedly your best friend when it comes to keeping poisonous snakes away from your yard. I just … well … I just don’t like snakes at all. I know they exist, but I prefer never to see them in my garden or along my running path or even behind glass in a cage at the nature museum.

My husband and I commented again about the two men’s conversation when we saw a large black snake on the other side of the road as we were out driving a few days later. Our dog was in the back of the car, and we envisioned the total chaos that would have ensued had we stopped and tossed the snake in with the dog to take home. I’m not sure who would have fared worse: the snake, our dog, the car or us. Again, ugh.

So I’m glad that I’ve only had pleasant surprises in my garden this past week, and I wanted to share some of them with you. I promise: there are no scary critters involved.

First was a calla lily in bloom. A dear friend of mine carried a bouquet of orange calla lilies at her wedding, and ever since, I associate these flowers with her. As I was planning out a new backyard garden spot a few years ago, I knew I wanted to put in some calla lilies. I have been disappointed each year as the huge, green leaves came up but never any blooms. And then this, as we officially entered summer:

Callabloom2013

I noticed a spot of yellow from my kitchen window and went running outside to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me.

I guess it’s simple things like this that delight my soul. The bloom has lasted for days now, and others have joined it to add beauty to my orange and yellow garden patch.

Callabloom2_2013

A calla lily bloom heralds the start of summer

The second surprise showed up in my front yard at about the same time. A Lady Baltimore hibiscus (one my longtime readers may remember from a post two summers ago) came up this summer as a double stalk instead of just the single one that has been coming up for several years now.  Continue reading →