Alice’s Wonderland

2025 Mosaiculture Exhibition - Atlanta Botanical Garden

Story by Judi Martha Collins, photos contributed by Atlanta Botanical Gardens                                 

Nothing charms the heart more than an intriguing plant topiary growing in a beautiful garden.  Well…maybe nothing…except perhaps a world-class fantasy garden featuring a whole slew of larger-than-life topiaries recreating scenes from English author Lewis Carroll’s famous tale of Alice’s fall down the rabbit hole.  

If you’re looking for a fun day trip that offers a delightful adventure for all ages, look no further than Atlanta Botanical Garden’s upcoming, world-class mosaiculture exhibition, “Alice’s Wonderland,” May 1O through Sept. 14.  The exhibition is less than a two-hour drive from Georgia’s Lake Country.

Topiary art on steroids

Jim Smith, Atlanta Botanical Gardens’s Senior Horticulture Manager, explains the term “mosaiculture” means using a multitude of giant topiaries to tell a story with live plants as the art media and a garden setting as the canvas.

“Think of the ‘Alice’s Wonderland’ exhibition as an adventure through a living, growing wonderland of plants,” Jim suggested.

“To create our mosaiculture, ABG’s horticulture team fills the garden with an amazing display of topiaries — some 27 feet high,” he explained. “Alice is airborne in a dizzy, twirling whirl with her book, cups of tea and playing cards. A giant rabbit nervously checks his pocket watch and mutters to himself ‘I’m late!  I’m late to a very important date!’ The towering Red Queen plays croquet

with her hedgehog, flamingo and soldiers. Gigantic flowers sing, and visitors are surprised and fascinated by other new features joining this year’s iconic display.

“We use bedding plants of different colors, patterns and textures to build a multitude of larger-than-life topiaries, then place the giant figures throughout our

gardens to create ‘living paintings’ similar to how an artist uses colors, textures and scale to tell a story with figures in a landscape — just on a much larger scale and with 3-dimensional figures, some empowered to dance, or whirl or sing. More unique still, garden visitors get to ‘steps inside’ our scenes and becomes part of our ‘living pictures’.”

 Entertainment and education

You can go to Alice’s Wonderland just for entertainment.  But you can also learn how the giant topiaries are made at learning stations manned by ABG’s Discovery Volunteers. Who knows?  You may become inspired to build your own topiary—though

probably on a much smaller scale.

“Whether your garden grows in pots on a patio, flower beds, cottage vegetable plot, or scatteres across estate acreage, topiary art offers a unique opportunity to personalize your space,” Jim noted.

“Our Discovery Volunteers teach interested guests about mosaiculture — materials, tools,

process, and planting. The information is easily

adaptable to a smaller scale home garden topiary.  Learning stations are available during most open hours, including weekdays and weekends.  Visitors can choose a ‘reservation only’ or ‘drop in’ tour or experience the exhibition and learning stations on their own self-guided tour.”

For information and tickets, visit the website www.atlantabg.org or call 404-876-5859.

**To see the finished sculptures and learn about visiting the Garden, read the story "Enchanting Destination" here on, https://www.lakelife.today/post/an-enchanting-daytrip.

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This story appeared in Lakelife magazine, Volume 19, Issue 2 and is the property of Smith Communications, Inc. No portions of the story or photos may be copied or used without written consent from the publisher.