Today’s GPOD comes from frequent contributor Cherry Ong and features a very cool public garden that she stumbled upon on a very rainy day in Tofino, British Columbia.
This garden display was created by artist Pete Clarkson, who makes all of the sculptures from recycled marine debris he and shoreline cleanup volunteers collect. The installations reflect the unexpected beauty of what may seem like trash, and offer a reminder that the things we throw away end up somewhere, often floating to clutter the ocean and beaches. There is more information about Pete and his art on his website: peteclarkson.com
A simple sculpture sits amid the grasses and Yucca.
A tall tower rises up out of the garden grasses. The plantings in the garden are simple and beautiful, the better to highlight the sculptures.
A beautiful specimen of Yucca ‘Color Guard’ (Zones 4–10) with gold variegation complements the brown and green tones of the garden.
A little person in the garden is nestled down amid the grasses.
This one is just cute. All the sculptures have names, and this one is called “The Frog Formerly Known as Prince,” which is a pretty great name. I love how the grasses wrap around it, fully including it in the garden.
This isn’t a flowery display, but it includes lots of ornamental grasses and some mugo pines (Pinus mugo, Zones 2–8) that create a beautiful, understated scene.
This sculpture is called “Sea Chimes” and is Cherry’s favorite sculpture in the garden.
Another view of “Sea Chimes”
This sculpture, “Plastic Water,” looks at plastic water bottles, one of the most common pieces of trash found in the oceans.
Fishnets and various other pieces of marine trash were used to make this piece, “From Sea to Tree.”
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