Siva: Genius Engineer? Quirky Designer? Anonymous Architect?
A palm tree sheds its bark, looking like a super close up of violin strings or an electron micrograph of human hair and scalp
Lichen up close resembles dried coral or weathered bone
Intricate moss carpet, a miniature forest growing on a log
A chlorophyll oragami with folds trapping the Sun’s light resembling a drone shot of a farmer’s field
The amazing cordex of the South African Turtle Vine, its bark resembling cork or maybe an alien planet’s surface
Hundreds of palm flowers fallen to the ground, their work done as pollinating bees fly away to their next meal
A desert euphorbia, a visitor favorite that is a cabbage wannabe
Palm bark looking like woven hemp fabric. Does Siva use a loom for this work?
A tropical Calocasia, glossy with rain and hiding in the shade
Like succulent scrolls, each leaf of this densely crowded sanserveria folds and bends to make room for its neighbor
It’s called Black Coral, with shiny dark leaves that look wet even in the dryness of midday
A Shell Ginger leaf looking like like wet paint on a canvas
The Everglades Palm, reminding us of Cinnamon Bark and woven from the threads of years
A young Poincianna branch (a rare yellow-flowered variety) with its little leaf soldiers all lined up in parade formation.
The lungs of the jungle, facing the sky to make sugar from photons. Or is it a satellite photo of the Amazon jungle?
If a hundred and one visitors walk through Siva’s Sacred Gardens, they will have at least 102 differing experiences. There is the plant/stream/stone relationships to understand, there is the color pallet to admire, there is the contrast of massive and miniature, there is light and shadow everywhere, clusters of color and never-saw-that-before moments.
For today it is all about looking more closely than usual as we chronicle 15 botanical creatures from up close. Challenge: before reading the caption, try to guess what you are looking at.
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