The largest living plant sculpture exhibition ever displayed in the United States has just begun! From now till October 31, visit Atlanta Botanical Garden to see Imaginary Worlds, a New Kingdom of Plant Giants. 28 living sculptures are scattered throughout the garden including nine never-before-seen characters. Brand new this year, you’ll find four frolicking frogs, three playful gorillas, and a pair of adorable orangutangs. They join a grazing unicorn, a friendly ogre, gigantic cobras, and beautiful butterflies. The largest sculpture of them all is the 25-foot-tall Earth Goddess which, since last year, has become a permanent part in the Garden’s collection. She, alone, is made up of 18,000 annuals.
These artworks were created in Canada by International Mosaiculture of Montreal, the leaders in the art form known as mosaiculture. Just how are these amazing artworks formed? “Each sculpture is a living, sophisticated evolution of the traditional ‘stuffed topiary technique,” states the Garden. “Thousands of meticulously groomed annuals are planted into soil-and-sphagnum moss filled netting covering the steel forms – hidden works of artisanship themselves – to carpet the skeletons in colorful patterns. Complex irrigation systems beneath the surface of the sculptures allow the plants to grow – and the creatures to flourish – in Atlanta’s summer heat.”
Last summer, at the same garden, International Mosaiculture of Montreal presented for the first time in the United States. This year, the exhibition promises to be even bigger and better, featuring nearly 200,0000 plants.
Atlanta Botanical Gardens website
Photos [Atlanta Botanical Gardens, JR P, Wanderlust Atlanta, Hyosub Shin]