Denver Botanic Gardens II- Water

 "Water, the Hub of Life. Water is its mater and matrix, mother and medium. Water is the most extraordinary substance! Practically all its properties are anomalous, which enabled life to use it as building material for its machinery. Life is water dancing to the tune of solids. 

- Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

A garden cannot exist without water. These selected examples from my files are for your enjoyment.
Don't you love the mist rising from the lake?

Every angle of the  El Pomar Waterway is enchanting. Here, the rhythmic repetition of  lit fountains rise between potted islands. The clumping plant lining the reflective pool is Muhlenbergia dumosa. Its native habitat are stream beds of Arizona and northern Mexico. But this is Colorado- and do believe I've seen it in Florida. Like people, some plants are tough and adaptable.

El Pomar is Spanish for "The Apple."  As part of the western United States, Colorado has a strong Spanish heritage. Indeed the state's name refers to the red sandstone which called people to rush to the state when it yielded gold.

The bold terra cotta wall color is a simply striking and bold contrast to better appreciate the planting's deceptively delicate silhouettes against.

Another bold use of color calls visitors to see The Baracuda, a welded steel sculpture by Wolfgang Pogzeba. The cascading water over the purple wall reminded me of the dioramas all ages of children admire, usually behind glass. Click on the link and read how the man really got around.

Barracuda. We used to catch lots of barracuda when we were fishing for something else.  Scavengers, not that many people I I've known like to eat them. However, cut up and buried real deal, they make pretty terrific fish fertilizer beneath a newly un-potted rose bush.

One of the kids in the neighborhood once asked me "Why do you plant fish?"

Because God has a use for everything. Even dead fish. Because they feed the soil, they make a garden lovelier.

Thank you dearest readers for staying with me on this adventure. I promise to be back writing about my California garden by the weekend.