GBFling 2017 — The Smithsonian Gardens: the end

I didn't take enough photos of the landscape at the National Museum of the American Indian or the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden to warrant their own posts, so they'll be sharing my final coverage of the Smithsonian Gardens on the National Mall — as seen during the 2017 Garden Bloggers Fling.

First up the gardens surrounding the National Museum of the American Indian...


The building itself was a beauty.

Sumac and sculpture...

"We Were Always Here" by Oregon's Rick Bartow.

Yucca rostrata and friends, including a couple of Agaves.

To be admired from afar though, as there was no way to actually get out in that space, even from inside the museum (had I opened the door an alarm would sound).

It certainly looks like you're supposed to be able to get out there and lounge though, doesn't it?

Moving on....there was a large swampy pond with cattails and aquatic plants. Had I not been overheated (so humid), and tired, I would have been better about recording names. Instead I just snapped a few photos.

I wonder if mosquitoes are a problem?

Now over to the sculpture garden. This piece "Sphere No. 6" by Arnaldo Pomodoro was my favorite.

"Arnaldo Pomodoro says that the inner ball represents the Earth and outer ball represents Christianity. The design of the internal layers which look like the gears or cogwheels of a complex machine symbolizes the fragility and complexity of the world." (source)

The placement, on the small cement pedestal, in the middle of bed of Liriope (?) was simple perfection.

There was more...

And plants too of course!

This piece cracks me up. Andrew and I recently saw a short documentary on the lady behind this work, Yayoi Kusama.

She's interesting. Here's a piece on her show at the Seattle Art Museum (organized by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution), if you're curious.

But this is a gardening blog...so let's look at a few plants!

Nicely done succulent mash-up.

Repetition baby!

Cordyline fruticosa 'Singapore Twist'...love their use of exotics!

I still have the The U.S. Botanic Garden to visit before my coverage of the gardens on The Mall is complete...

Weather Diary, Sept 21: Hi 63, Low 48/ Precip .02"

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