CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 21 In the "Garden Gone Wild" exhibit, you'll experience a topiary collection of jungle animals sculpted with live plants. Seven species of animals make up the 11 live-plant topiary sculptures that are throughout the garden's walking trail. I f you want to go on a safari, you won't have to go to Kenya and watch a lion eat a gazelle. Or even to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro and hope the elephants come out of hiding. Instead, stay in Fayetteville and take a stroll at Cape Fear Botanical Garden, where you'll discover another type of life form. In the "Garden Gone Wild" exhibit, you'll experience a topiary collection of jungle animals sculpted with live plants. You'll see the "king" of the garden: a lion created with 358 plants. Eighty-eight Carex flagelliform plants alone make up its mane, which sometimes flows in the occasional hot summer breeze. en there's the more common cardinal, found throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America. It took 150 begonia dark-leaf red plants to create its red feathers. Dyed reindeer moss fills in the areas not covered by plants. In all, seven species of animals make up the 11 live-plant topiary sculptures that are throughout the garden's walking trail where you might least expect them. ey range from 4 to 12 feet high. e lion is about the size of a conference table. e exhibit includes butterflies, a cardinal, gorillas, a giraffe, elephants and a lion. e topiary exhibit opened in July and will remain at the garden until the end of December, says Sheila Hanrick, director of events and marketing at the garden. e exhibit is her brainchild. "Two years ago, I was trying to find large topiary forms that we could cover in lights for Holiday Lights in the Garden. I love animals, and I knew that was the closest I was ever going to get to a large animal in the garden," Hanrick says. She couldn't find one nearby, but luckily botanical gardens throughout the U.S. are like family and are willing to share. She contacted several gardens, including the 128-year-old Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Columbus, Ohio. Franklin Park had what she was looking for. "eir 'hort' (horticulture) staff create, maintain and build all of these topiaries. When I reached out to them, they said, 'As a matter of fact, we have now created enough of these that we are putting them out on exhibit at other gardens — traveling exhibits,'" Hanrick says. "We rent them from Franklin Park," she says. "We're only the second botanical garden to have these." e topiaries are called mosaic topiaries, says Chris Hoffman, the garden's chief executive officer. e sculptures consist of wire frames with special soil mixtures and reindeer moss packed inside. Unlike traditional topiary arts sculpted from a single bush or tree, mosaic topiaries are made up of a variety of plants to create a three-dimensional visual art form.

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