LEGO ART AT MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDENS

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HAPPY  4TH OF  JULY,  2014 !!!

From now until September 7, 2014,  Lego Art “Nature Connects”  is on display  in the Climatron  at Mo Bot.  in St. Louis, Missouri.  Guaranteed  to be enjoyed by  kids  and adults of all ages!   There are 12 displays and here are my favorites:

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Of course, being a bird watcher,  I love this  Pileated Woodpecker.  It’s made with  4424 Legos.

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This is just a partial caption of “Feeding the Birds or the Squirrels?”  which  took 8586 Legos to make.

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Mama  and Baby Lego Ducks are  so cute !

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Now  onto the bugs…….. This Monarch Butterfly  is feasting on milkweed, a much needed nutritional plant  for them  to make the long  journey to Mexico for the winter.  You can help the Monarchs by planting milkweed in your yard.  This display used 60,549 Legos.

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Did you know that the Praying Mantis can eat frogs, lizards and even hummingbirds?  No wonder I didn’t like these creeping looking  bugs!  42,167 Legos were used in this display.

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This Milk Snake is after it’s favorite mouse snack here.  12,069  Legos used  to create this slitherly  image that I hope I never see in my garden.  : )

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This would  look great in any garden !    27,869 Legos were needed to make the Sundial and Bluebird.

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Our applause to the artist – Sean Kenney !!!

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But Wait!  By the time I was finished seeing the Lego Art, it was raining buckets outside!!!!  So I  photographed some of the  plants and flowers that make me smile.   Proof that Mother Nature has a sense of humor:

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Lastly these Climatron residents wanted  to be  included  also.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

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LEGO ART AT MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDENS

DSCF1409

HAPPY  4TH OF  JULY,  2014 !!!

From now until September 7, 2014,  Lego Art “Nature Connects”  is on display  in the Climatron  at Mo Bot.  in St. Louis, Missouri.  Guaranteed  to be enjoyed by  kids  and adults of all ages!   There are 12 displays and here are my favorites:

DSCF1437

Of course, being a bird watcher,  I love this  Pileated Woodpecker.  It’s made with  4424 Legos.

DSCF1448

This is just a partial caption of “Feeding the Birds or the Squirrels?”  which  took 8586 Legos to make.

DSCF1414

Mama  and Baby Lego Ducks are  so cute !

DSCF1432

Now  onto the bugs…….. This Monarch Butterfly  is feasting on milkweed, a much needed nutritional plant  for them  to make the long  journey to Mexico for the winter.  You can help the Monarchs by planting milkweed in your yard.  This display used 60,549 Legos.

DSCF1428

Did you know that the Praying Mantis can eat frogs, lizards and even hummingbirds?  No wonder I didn’t like these creeping looking  bugs!  42,167 Legos were used in this display.

DSCF1421

This Milk Snake is after it’s favorite mouse snack here.  12,069  Legos used  to create this slitherly  image that I hope I never see in my garden.  : )

DSCF1481

This would  look great in any garden !    27,869 Legos were needed to make the Sundial and Bluebird.

DSCF1460

Our applause to the artist – Sean Kenney !!!

DSCF1475

But Wait!  By the time I was finished seeing the Lego Art, it was raining buckets outside!!!!  So I  photographed some of the  plants and flowers that make me smile.   Proof that Mother Nature has a sense of humor:

DSCF1446

DSCF1393

DSCF1425

DSCF1447

DSCF1390

DSCF1435

DSCF1441

DSCF1440

DSCF1443

DSCF1439

DSCF1455

DSCF1445

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Lastly these Climatron residents wanted  to be  included  also.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

CORPSE FLOWER AT MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDENS

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June 30, 2014

Recently the Titan Arum ( Amonphophallus  titanum) plant bloomed at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.  Originally  from the Island  of Sumatra, a part of Indonesia, these plants bloom infrequently and when they do bloom, it only lasts approximately 24 hours.   If  I understood correctly, the last time this particular plant bloomed at the Gardens  was in 2012.   Since the bloom  is open only for a short time, the Gardens  remained open until 2:00 am the day of the bloom  for anyone interested in seeing   and smelling   this rarity.  I arrived about 8:00PM  and stood in line for about an hour.   When I left, the line was even longer so the plant definitely brings  in the curiosity seekers.

Did I mention the smell???  It isn’t  nick named the Corpse Flower for nothing.   As I stood in line, there was definitely a stinky odor  and the closer I got to the plant, the worse it got.  When I finally had my turn to stand in front of it,  the stench  was nauseatingly  horrible.

As I learned from my visit,  the spadix ( the thing that is sticking up in the middle)  releases this stinky odor to attract pollinators. Interestingly,  the tip of the  spadix  is also  approximately human body temperature, which helps the odor  volatilize and  attract  the pollinators also.

Now I can obviously show you the photos I took but I also wanted to do my best to share with you the smell.   So if you can  imagine this….

According to Wikipedia, the America Chemical Society and Cornell University did an analysis of chemicals released by the spadix .  It showed  the  “stench” includes chemicals similar to the smell of  limberger cheese, rotting fish, sweaty socks,  a sweet floral scent,  Chloraseptic and mothballs all rolled into one.   Now, aren’t you sorry you missed it?

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Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

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