A Feast for the Eyes & Imagination

At the end of this month (June 22 to be exact) the “mosaïcultures internationales” exhibit will open at the Botanical Gardens in Montreal. Also called “the Giants of the Horticultural Arts” it features large-scale horticultural sculpture in a lovely setting. On a recent trip we were able to get a sneak peak at some of the amazing, and large, creations being assembled. There are groups of horticulture sculptors representing many different countries contributing to this exhibit… And the breadth of subjects is as varied as all of our imaginations combined!

The horses manes and the shepherds mustache were gently blowing in the warm breeze, adding to the life of these giants.

Having some difficulty figuring out the scale of these living sculptures? In the photo above you can see the man in orange adding to the foliage of the crane! The seated female figure is surrounded by a flowing stream and other cranes of a smaller size than the one she embraces.

These gardeners, with their wonderful old Fargo truck, were a favorite of mine. The humans represented in this scene are just over life-sized. The truck itself has plants embedded in every crack and gap as well as lichen growing on the white hood – prompting a friend to call it a “molding oldie”! The artists for this diorama were from California. Here is a detail of the grill:

Next along the path we chose was a flower pot the size of my living room, with colorful (and huge) flowers falling out… Here you see the work that goes into covering every surface of the armature with plants… We gave these horticulturalists a round of applause in appreciation of their imaginative piece.

There were very tall (mechanical) cranes in use in parts of the garden to erect monumental designs like the one pictured below. I could not get close to this and others because the area is cordoned off until work is complete. The one pictured below was photographed from afar. Could it be a phoenix? You can get some idea of size if you find the man walking past it in the foreground.

If you think I am giving too much away, think again! There will be approximately 50 sculptures created by 25 participating countries lining a 2.2k route through the gardens. The first of these exhibits was launched in 1998 by Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal (MIM), a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote gardening and horticulture as both an expression of new millennium values and a vital component of the urban landscape.

Bring a lunch, a camera, wear good shoes for walking, and enjoy! For more information about this cool spectacle check out these websites – http://www.mosaiculturesinternationales.ca/en/, http://calendrier.espacepourlavie.ca/mosaicultures-internationalesr-en or merely google images for ‘mosaïcultures internationales’ and you’ll likely see images from previous events.