… and craftsmanship.
Gardens are the perfect place for artistic expression. The very act of creating a vegetative layout  visualized by someone inspired by the medium that he or she creates with, is  an art form . (Phew… that was a mouthful).
Then you have the craftsmen who conceive of and build the hard elements which embellish this garden, with an eye to detail, engineering and longevity. People are drawn into this beautiful setting and are inspired to capture the essence of what you see, thorough paintings, drawings, photographs, music and myriad other mediums.
Art begets art, and the Gardens are a perfect place to experience art.

Detail on the 105 year old perimeter wrought iron fence at the Gardens.

Extreme deadheading!
Carpet beds are another form of drawing. Instead of paper and pencil you use soil and plants. Drawing on paper however is far less labour intensive, as your canvas isn’t counting on you for sustenance and maintenance.

Scattered amongst the dahlia’s were a group of students from the Sacred Heart School of Halifax, drawing the different forms. Walking among them and admiring their lovely creations brought a smile to my face. One of my fondest memory of art classes was an outdoor session drawing flowers (at least they were supposed to be flowers). Drawing was never my forté.

Visualizing is more my thing. My mediums are plants and  cameras.

The giant leaf of this Catalpa speciosa (Northern catalpa tree), some leaves as large as 12″ by 16″, demanded closer inspection.

I love the renovation of the waterfowl house, which was done post hurricane Juan. It always reminds me of a cottage in the middle of nowhere.

Culinary and musical art forms also rise from the garden(‘s).
The Castanea dentate has been inspiring gourmets for decades, especially at Christmas time when the spiny nuts were ‘roasted (and sold) on an open fire’ which could be smelled for blocks. Nat King Cole was inspired to pay tribute to it.
Unfortunately  the American chestnut was virtually wiped  out by a fungus just south of the border, taking with it a once important economic resource to the US.

Beautiful day out there… I hope you’re all enjoying it.