Through the Garden Gate: Monday, October 5th

You never know what you might find when you stroll through the garden gate. It might take you places you've never been before ...

Like the North Carolina Botanical Garden.

There are all sorts of strange and wonderful things down that path and the others that wind through the NCBG.

Pitcher plants with their curiously shaped and patterned blooms.

An elegant insect posing with dignity and aplomb:

Wildflowers that the Head Gardener and I were unable to identify:




And amidst it all, sculptures by artists from around the world, an exhibit entitled "Celebrating Life Forces" ... what an unexpected and delightful surprise in the woods of Chapel Hill! There wasn't time to see them all but I did capture a few images.

This statue is Inukshuk by Chris Gregory of Efland, North Carolina, resembling the signposts of the Inuktitut people above the Arctic Circle. The artist sees those signposts as "symbols of hope and safety", something as necessary in today's "hostile and unforgiving world" as they were in that of the Inuktitut.

I didn't catch the name of this sculpture or its artist. The Head Gardener is rather freaked out by the faces, calling them "oddly demented". She did not take it well when I asked if there were such a thing as evenly demented.

Margarita Leon of Maracaibo, Venezuela created these pieces to represent Water, Wind and Fire, three life elements. Each element was portrayed by a flower.

I didn't get the name of this sculpture, either, but I loved how it came together with the tree behind it from this vantage point. The tree appears as if it's growing up through a silver sheath.

My favorite was probably this garden bench, though. I believe I've mentioned before that I have a certain predilection for rusty stuff. I hated to leave it behind but I couldn't figure out how to get it through security.