At the end of the 18th century, a flood of settlers came to Tennessee, transforming the Knoxville outpost on the Tennessee River into a gateway for Westward expansion. When the Cherokee Nation chiefs met along the river in 1791, they ceded all claims in the wilderness valley to the United States. Knoxville became the territorial capital and then the state capital. The city was occupied by both the Confederate and Union armies during the Civil War. Fast forward to the present day where we read that the 400-acre University of Tennessee campus has played an important role in the city's cultural life because of its sports facilities and many museums. Being big fans of botanical gardens we stopped first at the University Gardens.
We hadn't realized before our visit last August that we'd be treated to Art in the UT Gardens, the 2020 exhibit designed to"promote community participation, artistic collaboration, and environmental education while raising awareness and support for the Gardens." The theme was the flowering dogwood tree that was native to the Eastern US and important to the Knoxville region because of its annual Dogwood Festival. Local amateur and professional artists had been invited to interpret the dogwood theme by painting or embellishing wooden dogwood blossoms installed throughout the Gardens.
Bloom in Pink was the acrylic creation of Candace Gilbert.
The crystal-embellished Dogwood Daze was designed by Janet Kaser.
We noticed a number of aspiring artists drawing the flowers and thought they were likely UT art students.
Georgia on my Mind was one of the bigger pieces!
The UT Color Garden, sponsored by local businesses, featured flowering and foliage annuals and perennials grouped by color to showcase the palette of colors and diversity of plants available for the summer growing season. I had never considered before that color was the 'soul' of a garden and that each one has an impact and meaning when used in a garden. Did you know that green is considered a 'neutral' color when it comes to gardening? That was certainly new to me.
Sprinkled throughout the garden were plaques indicating specific areas had been adopted by volunteers as part of the Garden's Adopt-a-Spot Volunteer Program - what a marvelous idea.
Dancing Seeds was the name given to this dogwood piece.
Spotty, Dotty Dogwood Blossom was the imaginative name for this one!
What a serene place amid the busy campus to rest awhile.
I loved this untitled dog flower made of walnut, hard maple, cherry, spalted maple (huh?), white oak, alder, pecan, and red grandis (ditto on the huh!) - Edward Dudrick sure was a talented woodworker!
The bigger version was also fashioned by Dudrick.
This was a Weeping Katsura tree and was native to Japan. I shall be on the lookout for it when Steven and I hopefully head to Japan in mid-September for three weeks as part of an extended trip to Asia. I just found out online there was also one at the excellent Morton Arboretum in Chicago that we'd visited at the beginning of this trip, I have no recollection of seeing it, though!
Not far away was another weeping tree - this was a Weeping White Pine.
On top of the playhouse in the Children's Garden was a living roof!
The largest, and very colorful, art piece was called Knoxville Compass. The plants had cute nametags for children to remember what they'd seen.
The Knoxville Family Hiking and Playgroup came up with Bugs of Our Imagination!
This was the first time I recall ever seeing a Human Sunclock. It worked by standing on the current month of the year - i.e. August when we were there. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough sun so that when we raised an arm over our head we could see our shadow fall across the numbers around the edge of the circle identifying the correct time on the clock. The clock keeps correct time throughout the year, only varying by 15 minutes at the most.
Dogwood Reflections, made of tiny pieces of acrylic and glass tiles, was one of my favorite works because it reminded me of an artist's palette.
Don't know about you but I always get a kick out of walking through a labyrinth so I was glad to see this one at the UT Gardens.
It was bordered by a variety of enormous vibrant blue planters. Steven and I have been in gardens the world over but I don't remember seeing planters in public gardens before. I thought they were a great addition to the landscape.
In this era of Covid-19, no one could have come up with a more perfect name for their creation than Social Distancing!
This was such an attractive entrance to The Beall Family Rose Garden which was the largest in eastern Tennessee. The roses certainly looked far more thriving than those in West Virginia's Huntington Rose Garden we'd seen just the morning before.
The actress Audrey Hepburn was credited for penning "To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." What a lovely sentiment.
A sign in the Kitchen Garden noted trespassers would be prosecuted!
Phil and Michaela: Thinking you both might have appreciated the center of this dogwood!
Being more of a plant lover than a gardener, I hadn't known there was such a thing about a New Perennial Movement. I learned that it was a design style in the garden style of the Dutch Wave and the New American Garden, first made famous by Chicago's Lurie Garden and NYC's High Line.
Since we'll be in both cities to visit our daughters in the coming months, we'll have to check them out. The movement incorporates large numbers of densely planted perennials to reach a stunning effect. The philosophy is if there's room for a weed, there must be room for another plant! Thoughtful plant selection ensures that there is a variety of colors each season.
What a novel use for an old truck, don't you think!
I also liked how old trash cans had been repurposed rather than dumped in the trash heap!
The bench looked like it belonged in a Frank Lloyd Wright home.
It didn't take much imagination to know why Bobbi Henneisen named her dogwood Let It Bee!
I can't remember now how Steven and I discovered the University of Tennessee Gardens as it wasn't included in the AAA tour book, our usual 'bible' of sights to see here in the US. I was glad that it had come to our attention as it was a wonderful way to start off our day in Knoxville. Gardens and art were a perfect combination for us!
Next post: More of Knoxville's treasures later that same day.
Posted on March 14th, 2021, from a snowbound Denver after we all doubted the meteorologists for not correctly predicting the arrival of the season's worst storm. Though they were off by two days, it sure turned out to be a humdinger of a storm with many places of employment and schools already closed for tomorrow. Please make sure to stay safe and warm.
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