Thursday, May 31, 2007

First Rose of Summer



“One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.” ~ Dale Carnegie


All of the roses are going to be in bloom shortly, but 'Chihuly'® is the first of those that were acquired prior to this year. I got this floribunda last year at The Greenhouse Effect, along with 'Hot Cocoa.' It's quite unusual and striking, because no two blooms are alike and each bloom changes in appearance from the stage of bloom you see here until it starts to drop petals. Some of them are painted, as is this one, and some are not. It owes that trait to one of its parents, 'Scentimental.' It is a Weeks rose, introduced by Carruth in 2004.


Dale Chihuly is an American glass artist. The first Chihuly work I'd ever seen was the glass ceiling in Bellagio's in Las Vegas. Stunning when you first see it, and you'll have a crook in your neck by the time you tire of looking at it, if you even do.







Then Mom and I went to see his exhibit at Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio, in 2004. Various glass creations were interspersed among the flora there and I became an official fan. Nearly the entire exhibit was acquired as a permanent exhibit and includes more than 3000 pieces of glass.








The next place I saw a Chihuly was when Romie and I visited the William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2005. Chihuly presented the Clintons with an 11-foot, 1000 pound glass tree, worth $22,000.
Usually his glass works are brilliantly colorful, but this one is white. If you're familiar with Chihuly's work at all, you'll recognize it as such.



Presently, there are three exhibitions in the United States, including one at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It runs from May 10 - November 11, 2007 and I hope to get there before it closes. I've not visited Phipps, so Chihuly or not, I'd like to see it.

So which came first - my love of Chihuly glass or the Chihuly rose? It was the glass, but when I saw the rose in bloom and discovered its name, I knew I had to have it. It has never disappointed me with any of its blooms and it truly is aptly named. Its brilliant - sometimes shocking - color variations are reminiscent of Chihuly's glass works.


2006 'Chihuly'®





9 comments:

Muum said...

Love the Chiluly rose! Thanks for sharing the pics from the Columbus exhibit, would love to see that, but don't live in (or near) Columbus anymore!

Angie said...

Kylee-the roses are stunning and I am not a fan of roses due to the thorns. Really stunning!

I just read a very interesting articles a day ago about glass flowers that you may be interested in. It is in the June/July issue of Garden Design about an exhibit of the Harvard Glass Flowers running in New York at the moment. These glass flowers were created over 100 years ago by German glass masters Leopold Blaschka and his son Rudolph, commissioned by Harvard as botanical teaching tools. Looking at the photos, it is unbelievable that these are not real flowers. They are called exquisite, and I have to agree. Check it out!

Angie said...

Here is a link from the magazine to the Corning Museum of Glass showing the exhibit, cmog.org

Kylee Baumle said...

Angie, I just checked out the Harvard Glass Flowers online and WOW WOW WOW. You're right, they look REAL! Thank you for telling me about these!

Sandy said...

Gosh Pip....those pics of Chiluly flowers in Vegas bring back so many memories! I keep telling Bub to look for them when he goes but he can never find them......maybe they are gone by now???

Kylee Baumle said...

No, they're not gone! Tell him to walk into Bellagio and look up! LOL!

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

I love glass and this is really wonderful stuff. Love that Chihuly tree and that ceiling!!!!

Does your Chihuly rose come with a scent as one of its parents is called Scentimental?

Kylee Baumle said...

Yolanda, yes, it does have a scent. I'm not sure how to describe it other than it smells like a rose. LOL. It's not particularly strong like 'Diana, Princess of Wales' though.

It's really in full swing right now - clusters of gorgeous blooms!

Anonymous said...

Im visiting ohio in july i want to visit that place (=

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