Some of them are obvious – the plein air painters are given away by their clever folding easel contraptions, fistfulls of brushes and color smeared canvases. But there are other Artists lurking and working in the garden and you’d never know it … These secret Artists also might not be inclined to call their particular creative creations “Art” (with a capital A) but guess what?! They are!! (Says me!)

One secret Artist-at-work is Dianne Whitehead. Dianne volunteers in the Rose Garden (a Florabunda, doncha know) and has also been one of the crew creating floral arrangements for the house. This week she went all-out for a friend’s daughter’s wedding and there are flowers everywhere! No one can tell me that this stunning arrangement that she made for the front hall isn’t Art!

And then there are the guys. Fred and Dan spend a chunk of every week on ride’em mowers back and forth across acres of lawn and they evidently use that time wisely in creative rumination. Fred has sculpted a new Idea Bed arbor/ornament each year for the last 4, using bamboo, plus. Last year’s ornament, a “tree” in the middle of the garden caught the most comments so far. Visitors asked “What is that?”, “What’s it for?”, “What’s it do?” Some people thought it was an osprey nest; some thought it was weird and some, like me, thought it was a gorgeous piece of Art. (Since when does Art have to be functional? — That’s Craft’s job.) Yesterday Fred and Dan chopped down the “tree” and yanked it out. Funny Fred said “No wonder the tree died – there aren’t any roots!” and as they were installing fresh bamboo corner posts, Boss-Lady Julie asked “Is that for my hammock?” Turns out she wasn’t far off! Here’s a teaser of the new arbor/ornament roofed with – have you ever seen a net made out of bamboo??? Seeing is believing! (but not for napping.)

And the bloom pic of the day: the Artist is nature playing the Catalpa tree. Sing it!