While sowing seeds in the snow might relieve a little spring fever, there are some winter days that cause even the most optimistic gardener to lose faith. On those days, seeds in milk jugs are not enough. You need razzle, you need dazzle, you need a four-story puppy made of real flowers. Here are a few of my favorite outlandish floral creations from around the world...
- Every other year, an impressive and intricate carpet of approximately 750,000 real flowers is created in Brussels, Belgium. ApartmentsApart documented the 2010 edition, and the 2008 carpet, thanks to RobotNine, is a favorite as well. For more information, see the official Flower Carpet site.
- Garden Design featured the big, bright creations of Choi Jeong Hwa, including the Flower Tree in Lyons, France.
- Does anyone recognize this giant floral sculpture in Shanghai? Aliraqi ran this photo from Reuters in 2009, but I don't know anything else about it. Another Hwa, perhaps?
- This lounging flower lady was part of the 2011 flower show in Korea, serendipitously snapped by Mic On The Hill.
- Jeff Koon's Puppy makes me happy whenever I see a photo of it! Over the last twenty years, there have been an exciting number of variations of it around the world. This incarnation, featured in The Telegraph, is from 2011 in Bilbao. Art & Stuff got some great close-up shots, demonstrating the astounding number of flowers involved.
- In 2006, People's Daily Online visited the rose wall in China's Guizhou Province. Made to celebrate Labor Day, it was made of 199,000 roses.
(All images as credited above.)
Before & After: Emily Henderson Transforms a Senior's Studio Space
Monica & Austin's Charming Bungalow
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
White Enamel Four-P...
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
True Greek Recipe: Paximadi Bread Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Capers
I love the flower trees!
Even if you miss the flower carpet, make plans to see the Grote Markt in Brussels. It is such a beautiful, civilized, and friendly city in a wonderful country of lovely small towns and villages. The "low countries" are high on my list of places to which to return.
I ride by the flower tree in Shanghai everyday. I kind of chuckle every time I see it. Choi Jeong Hwa also made this one in 2008. It's quite the eye sore at the most impossible intersection. You can also see it from the elevated highway above the impossible intersection.