Sherry Beggs' passion for art extends into her Douglasville garden, which will be featured during the 2015 Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival (PennyMcHenryHydrangeaFestival.com) on June 6-7. Murals, sculpture, stained glass and other items are displayed among hydrangeas and other flowers and plants.
Beggs, a retired art teacher, created sculptures of people and animals using dried limelight hydrangeas and other flowers and plants for a display at the Douglas County Courthouse that goes with the theme, “Ooh, La, La.” The 8th annual festival includes self-guided tours of private gardens, a market with home and garden decor, art, food and flowers, and various exhibits at various spots in Douglasville.
A glimpse into her garden provides ideas for incorporating artistic and other elements into yards.
The garden: Beggs' property is about 12 acres, totaling three lots and featuring favorite plants and flowers, such as limelight hydrangeas. Her home was built nine years ago, and the yard had a few plants selected by the builder. She had worked on one area at a time, selecting art, sculptures and other items along the way. "I work on it until it feels right to me," she said. Among the most unusual items is an oversized piece of stained glass, which Beggs found in a friend's garage, suspended from a wood frame near a small bridge.
The artwork: Beggs transformed a concrete block retaining wall into a mural of a secret garden with painted flowering plants, fountains and an arbor along a stone path. "I wanted to do something more interesting with it," she said. She used a French painting technique to create an optical illusion that depicted objects in three dimensions. Real gates attached to the wall give the appearance of an entrance to the secret garden. On one side of the gates, a painted pear tree is "espaliered," or looks like it is pruned to lay flat against the wall.
The sculptures: A variety of sculptures are situated throughout the garden. Surprising items include a wood carving of an Indian chief by Jim Marbutt, a chainsaw and hand carved from Summerville. Two sculptures of women with babies are from Casa Montano, a garden ornament business owned by Carlos Montano in Fairburn.
The water elements: The garden features a cast fountain from a French abbey (on the wall near the mural). Beggs and her husband used a blue ceramic planter to make a round fountain surrounded by rocks near a pergola with blue Adirondack chairs. There's also a small waterfall leading to a pond elsewhere in the garden.
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