‘Imaginary Worlds’ back at Botanical Garden with bigger creature cast

‘Imaginary’s’ frogs symbolize conservation effort

Atlanta Botanical Garden amphibian specialist Leslie Phillips gives the back story on the quartet of frog sculptures that have joined the new edition of "Imaginary Worlds." They debuted last summer at International Mosaiculture of Montreal's exposition at the Montreal Botanical Garden, representing the Atlanta garden's amphibian conservation program, and won an environmental award:

“Two species native to Georgia, the Gopher Frog (Lithobates capito) and Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens), can be found leaping high into the sky and peeking out from a watery landscape. Also making their debut atop giant lily pads are the Lemur Frog (Agalychnis lemur) and Eyelash Marsupial Frog.

"The Lemur Frog, which is critically endangered, has been bred at the garden for almost 20 years and can be seen resting on the undersides of leaves in Fuqua Conservatory lobby displays. The Eyelash Marsupial Frog (Gastrotheca cornuta) is native to Panama and resides in the FrogPod (the garden's laboratory, not regularly open to the public). This critically endangered species was bred the first time ever in captivity at the garden.

“Populations of these species and many others are declining at an alarming rate because of several environmental factors, including a fungal disease that infects the skin of amphibians.”

Heavy downpours and high winds last week temporarily left the Atlanta Botanical Garden looking a little less than its usually pristine self. Delayed by the weather, employees scurried to put final touches on the sequel to last spring and summer's hit exhibition "Imaginary Worlds: Plants Larger Than Life."

Checking out the progress, garden president and CEO Mary Pat Matheson stepped carefully along still-damp walkways punctuated with fallen leaves and small branches pruned by Mother Nature.

“The one thing about rain, it makes lush gardens,” Matheson said, trying to look on the sunny side even as towering trees in Storza Woods did the hula. “I feel like I’m in ‘Jurassic Park.’”

While the garden may have seemed particularly jungle-like at that moment, there were no rampaging dinos to be found. There were, however, gorillas in its midst — three of them — as part of the just-opened "Imaginary Worlds: A New Kingdom of Plant Giants." A pair of orangutans and four frogs are the other new supersized beasties.

They have joined 19 “mosaiculture” creatures returning from last year, including 25-foot-tall Earth Goddess, still sporting her enigmatic Mona Lisa smile as she overlooks the Cascades Garden waterfalls, and the giant ogre bust with a secret passageway that kids enjoy running through beside Day Hall.

While many of the 162,000 guests who visited “Imaginary Worlds: Plants Larger Than Life” last May through October will find the annuals-studded sculptures familiar, some things have changed. In addition to the nine new pieces, most of the encoring ones have migrated to different locations in the garden, and all of last year’s 19 stars have been “re-imagined” with new and different plantings.

The sense of discovery garden-goers will feel in finding them, and in the process checking out some new areas of the 30-acre Midtown attraction, is suggested by the pose of the oversize shaggy dog who greets guests just outside the Hardin Visitor Center. The playful pup, its body seemingly poised to bound into the emerald greenness, looks over its shoulder with an expression that suggests, “Let’s explore!”

The gorillas — including one who bears a striking resemblance to Zoo Atlanta’s most famed denizen of all time, Willie B. — are hanging out in Storza Woods. The orangutans are hiding out in the orchard (close to the Edible Garden), one of them reaching up to grab a low-hanging branch like he’s preparing to take a Tarzan-like vine-swinging tour. And three of the frogs are in or beside a lily pond on the east side of Fuqua Conservatory. The fourth appears ready to dive into the water feature in front of the conservatory’s main entrance.

But even the returning sculptures hold surprises.

For instance, the unicorn, a neighbor of the frogs, has shed his blah brown coat in favor of a pretty-in-pink one — achieved by hundreds of polka dot plants. The two towering cobras perched on either side of the walk outside Day Hall sport intricate tapestry-like patterns of plants that pull you in for a closer look. Even the relatively dainty butterflies boast “eyes” on their wings that you realize, when you get near, are cleverly composed of succulents.

Eyeing the frogs, Matheson observed, "When you look at them, first you see the frog and then (as you get closer) you see the garden on the frog. That's what's wonderful about this botanical art."

Matheson seeded the notion of the garden as an outdoor museum with a 2004 show of Dale Chihuly glass sculptures that attracted 425,000 visitors in eight months, beginning a string of strong-drawing, warm-weather exhibits amid the pristine plantings. But she was especially invested in “Imaginary Worlds” because it was the first to make plants part of the art.

Last year, it seemed a little risky if for no other reason than that “mosaiculture” is a bit of a foreign concept.

Its roots extend to 16th-century Europe, where wealthy landowners commissioned elaborate three-dimensional gardens or “embroidery beds.” Those evolved into sculptural forms over time. The term mosaiculture came to be used in France in the 1860s.

Atlanta Botanical Garden was the first to import a major show of it to the U.S., partnering with International Mosaiculture of Montreal, a nonprofit group that has staged sprawling competitions around the world.

Each of its sculptures is made up of carefully pruned annuals planted into soil-and-sphagnum moss-filled netting that blankets their steel forms. Different types of plants are juxtaposed to create texture and patterns that give each piece its distinct appearance. For instance, Earth Goddess is comprised of more than 40,000 plants, this year including alternanthera, sweet potato vine, polka dot plant, lantana, scaevola and pilea.

The larger sculptures have hidden irrigation systems; smaller ones are simply showered with a hose.

Last year, the sculptures were trucked from Montreal to Atlanta via 15 refrigerated trucks in pre-planted sections, then assembled. Matheson believes the designs are notably more detailed this year because the planting was mainly done here, and her staff, working with two International Mosaiculture artists, now has a year of experience from which to draw.

Still, it wasn't a given that there would be an "Imaginary Worlds" encore. In fact, the exhibit that was planned several years in advance for this summer, New York artist Philip Haas' "Four Seasons," officially opened last weekend, at the same time as the mosaiculture menagerie.

The eye-catching quartet of 15-foot-tall, cornucopia-like busts, rising from a bed at the edge of the Great Lawn, was inspired by the Renaissance artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who painted a pastiche of natural elements into his portraits. Haas’ fiberglass busts depicting spring, summer, fall and winter are a composite of layered flowers, fruits, vegetables, twigs, leaves and more.

"Just imagine the Concerts in the Garden," Matheson said with a chuckle about the spring-summer music series as she gazed at the fetchingly odd seasonal sculptures. "They're going to be lit up (at night) and people will be sitting out here listening to Lyle Lovett, looking at the 'Artichoke Man!'"

Presenting two warm-weather exhibits this year for the price of one has the leader feeling optimistic that the garden can top the 162,000 who checked out “Imaginary Worlds” last May through October, many of whom made return visits with friends and extended family. That was double the draw over the same period in 2012, which explains the exhibit’s quick return.

Said Matheson, “I think we’re going to have a really great year.”