Boys and their toys...it never ends, no
matter how old the boy becomes.
Of course, though, if the boy is an
renowned artist and gardener, toys can dominate a design in the name
of art.
And art suddenly becomes more
accessible to the neighborhood boys...and girls...and all of those
grown-up folks who find Tonka trucks irresistible in a gorgeous
enclave of purples and blues and rusty browns.
Following the visit to the mystical
Wamboldtopia on day one of the Asheville Garden Bloggers' Fling, our
bus arrived at the urban garden of Christopher Mello.
A wall of
purple welcomed us...
...with frothy purple smoke bush sporting an adornment of blue
bottles, towering above the pride of the
garden...
...delicate, crépe paper-inspired blue
poppies.
These are not just any poppies. While
lurking among the foliage, I overheard Christopher telling the story
of his poppies. Beautiful as all of the poppies are in his garden, he
works to select specimens that are true blue, culling out the
remaining poppies tinged with red in the hopes that he will stabilize
a new cultivar, to be named 'Pearl Blue.'
The bees didn't give preferential
treatment to the pure blue poppies.
But I would. These are some
seriously gorgeous blooms.
I'm lusting for 'Pearl Blue' poppies,
although I must admit...I've never succeeded in growing poppies.
I blame our zone.
The garden beds buzzed with
pollinators, while the palate selected by Christopher provided a
calm, softening frame for his avant-garde works of art:
Winged baby heads.
A nightmare-inducing pagan-ish fellow.
Re-purposed rusted wheelbarrows.
An army of shovels, saluting the fleet of Tonkas.
I adored the heart of the garden, "Dump Truck Park."
Wondering whether this was an artist's ironic
view of play—or if the trucks logged any actual time with real
kids, I loved to hear that Christopher shares his play space with the
area children, allowing them a safe haven to zoom around while their
adults relax among the flora.
Within the garden's palate, interesting ornamentals...
'Summer Chocolate' Mimosa
A cultivar of Harry Lauder's Walking Stick, 'Red Majestic,' I believe
...share space with edibles—which you know earned bonus points in my
book.
Florence and bronze fennel softened the sharp shovels...
...while red lettuces complemented the color scheme.
In fact, in many aspects of the garden,
plants softened the art, framing rebar and rusty metal designs with flowing,
airy foliage.
Even the bottle tree appeared ready to
launch the blue and green bottles into space, with its lush foliage barely
contained by glass.
Throughout the garden, Christopher's
edgy art married with a calming, almost monochromatic color scheme
that showcased his talents:
artist...
gardener...
plant geneticist...
storyteller...
...and a boy who still loves his toys.
Julie
