Today’s photos are from Maria Fleming (Quiltingmamma). She says, “This weekend I visited the Montreal Botanical Garden for the first time. Though I haven’t managed to weed through all 400 photos, I did separate out the special ones.
“Mosaicultures Internationales Montreal 2013 closes September 29, so for some there might be time to pay a visit. This international plant art display is held every three years and features numerous countries from most continents. Some enter numerous displays, while others only one. They are displayed throughout the gardens section of the Botanical Gardens with thoughtful explanations of the inspiration as well as the final sketch.
“This year’s theme was Land Of Hope. There were some stunning large installations and thoughtful and humorous small ones. They are on display for 4 months, and given that I visited near the end, it is amazing how well they have stood up. I can’t imagine the number of people it takes to maintain them as they get clipped even, plants replenished, watered, and (I can assume) fertilized.
“Starting last week for several weeks, there is the Gardens of Light which are lit fabric structures displayed in the Chinese Garden and lights and music are played throughout the Japanese Garden. So it is a triple header as your tickets are also good for a second day’s visit allowing you to view the permanent gardens collection.”
OK, that first photo blew me away before I even saw all the rest. They’re all pectacular! I can’t imagine what it takes to create and maintain these works of art. Amazing!
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Comments
fun fun fun. favorites ,,,,,,the Orangutangs and the lemurs
I am always amazed at the Rose Parade floats, but these designs takes it to another level. They are breath taken. I know if I was touring this garden I would be walking around with open mouth amazement. I would love to see this garden in person. How are they able to keep the plants looking so fresh and maintained.
Simply beautiful
Wow! They are awesome! Thanks for sharing them!
tntreeman, I have figs, figs everywhere,but only four has gotten ripe. They never made it past the tree. LOL. Hoping the rest ripen before it gets too cold. I even have new ones growing
man, i would love to be able to do this at home just to amaze the kids AND the adults but the look of surprise on a childs face would make the effort worthwhile.
gloriaj, i understand that the figs never made it past the tree my g'son tries to climb the tree to get at them
I'm here in Montreal and going back for a second day at Moasiculture. The exhibit is very exciting, masterful use of plants and worth our trip from Cleveland. The total gardenis so inspieing, I almost wish it was spring so I could use some of the color combinations myself. This is very under publicized in the US, a shame .
Absolutely fabulous!!!!
I would SOOOO love to be able to see this! Thank you for sharing!!!,,, I can not even imagine how much work must go into these large sculptures,,,amazing!!
oh, Michelle, that sitting gorilla is indeed "pectacular" :) sorry, i couldn't resist
Those are very creative and very cool - thanks for sharing!
Qmamma, thank you for sharing this. I went looking for more and found one YouTube video that gives a peak at how some of the larger sculptures were put together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHKD5sPBD3s and another that is a collection of many displays recorded by a visitor to the exhibit:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGH8b5GKBEY
I am almost speechless (emphasis on the "almost"...it takes a lot to completely shut me up) on what a spectacular impression these displays make. Oh, my goodness! The sights at the additionally included links are amazing also. To see these in person must be quite a memorable experience.
Thank you so so much, Maria, for sharing the pictures and info with us.
Wow, this takes Chia Pets to a whole nother level!
I wonder what plants are used.
Great youtube clip. Glad I went later after the plants filled in.
While there early Sunday morning, I was a little upset that two of the larger displays were not well visible. One as they were still set up with camera and vehicles for a video they were taking on the fellow who made the eyes.
The Bird Tree photo is cropped as on the right is a cherry picker. The gardener was up there wish clippers (like the sheep shearing type) trimming and evening out the lines. On the other side they were quickly reeling in the hoses after a watering and another cherry picker had a fellow with a flat of plants filling in and replacing spent ones.
The frames for the flat ones are about 4 inches deep, strong plastic, solid back. Grid on the front filled with some growing medium covered with a loosely woven fabric to hold in the medium, but allow insertion of plants. Michelle had to weed out those photos from the 22 that I submitted Sunday night.
It truly is an amazing exhibit. I was trying to see where and when it will be next, but to no avail.
Add that there is a Dale Chihuly museum exhibit on as well and it was a visual feast weekend.
These are fantastic! Thank you, Maria! We are going to VT at the end of the month, and though this exhibit will be gone when we get there, it seems worth the trip anyway. Thanks again.
Pretty impressive! The shepherd & sheep are baaaaad!
Thank you so much for sharing this. What amazing creativity. Montreal Botanical Gardens is definitely on my list of gardens to visit but now I will time it for the next Mosaicultures show!
I'm so excited about this post, Maria. Funny thing, I was just thinking the other day about when we saw Mosaiculture about 12 years ago. What a feast for the eyes! It was so extraordinary I immediately wrote to the 'powers that be' in Chicago asking them asking them to consider doing something similar. Too bad my plea fell on deaf ears. I still get excited just thinking about the exhibit so going to Montreal in 3 years in now in our travel calendar! Thank you!
Awesome! pectacular too! I too wonder what plants they used. I may have to try something smaller, but like this,for my little one. She loves rabbits. Any ideas on what plants to use?
Just visited the garden this week, with a group of Master Gardeners from Albany and Rensselaer Counties, New York.
I have never seen such spectacular exhibits - both left me gape mouthed. The magic of the lighted figures in the Chinese Garden at night rivaled ANYTHING at Disney! And the mosaicultures were a tour de force in construction and horticulture. They are beautifully designed and executed, displayed in appropriate settings (e.g., the bison herd in a prairie field). Hubby and I are going to try to get back there before the end of the month. IT IS WORTH IT!
Plants used for the mosaiculture "present colorful and finely textured foilage and are selected for their compactness and tolerance to trimming." They included alternantheras, echeverias,iresines, santolinas, sedums, and a list of others such as Helichrysums and Hypoestes.
Sorry to disappoint some of you but when I say every 3 years, the venue changes as well. I think I recall the last time in Montreal was either 12 or 20 years ago. Here is a link to the relevant website, and there are images from past displays.
http://www.mosaiculturesinternationales.ca/en/2013/05/1855/
Pectacular, indeed! tntreeman & cwheat000, I give you virtual arm punches... -) Peculiar+spectacular=PECTACULAR, don'tcha know....
It's one thing to be a wizard with plant combos, but an artist has to have some serious talent to create the structures and decorative elements required to transform collections of plants into these super-realistic animals. I'm inspired!
cwheat000: If you're serious about trying some smaller versions yourself, I'd love to collaborate with you. I've got a welder and lots of scrap metal, and I'm already envisioning the armatures I'll need to grow my own creatures down by the river behind my house. :)
ok, i've seen the spoon flies , heard about the delicious cookies and now you're going to make plant creatures. i need either a big care package sent to tennessee or you need to organize a mission trip here to help me
guide said next exhibit will be in Bejing!
Even though it's so late in the day already I just have to say the virtual OMG!
tntreeman, Maybe we'll just have to stop by next time we're visiting family in Southwest Virginia.
rwotzak, door is always open, welcome here anytime
FANTASTIC! I've seen a few of their unbelievable creations at the Boston Flower Show but this is totally amazing. ..wonderful ! The ring-tailed lemurs really made me laugh!
What an opportunity to see such creative masterpieces. My favorite, by far, is the woman with the geese. I cannot imagine how anyone has the imagination and the patience to prepare and nurture these wonders for 4 months, but what a gift to the visitors. Thank you so much for sharing. The Canadians really know how to garden splendidly. I live near Niagara Falls and the gardens on the Canadian side are breathtaking every summer.
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