Smithsonian Gardens Presents “Garden Inspirations”

“Garden Inspirations,” Smithsonian Gardens’ exhibition of five miniature landscapes inspired by images from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Gardens, is on view in the S. Dillon Ripley Center through Sept. 3, 2017.

Delving deeper into the world of miniature gardening after 2015’s exhibition “Design for Small Spaces,” which featured stumpery, fairy gardens, green walls, terrariums and dish gardens, Smithsonian Gardens seeks to inspire visitors with ideas they can try at home, even in the smallest of spaces—such as a visitor favorite: the fairy-garden vignette.

Thousands of available images from the Archives were reviewed in order to find “the perfect five” to miniaturize for the exhibition. Criteria included: images that could be replicated with small plants that would do well in low-light conditions, that documented a range of gardens and that could be successfully translated into 3-D displays.

Smithsonian Gardens was established in 1972 to manage the grounds of the Smithsonian museums and to create interior and exterior horticultural exhibitions. Its research and educational programs promote the ongoing development of collections of living plants, garden documentation and horticultural artifacts. http://www.gardens.si.edu/.

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