Alice's Wonderland Reimagined

That Atlanta Botanical Garden has reopened - with safety measures, of course. With extended hours, they're now open seven days per week, reserving Mondays for members only. Tickets are timed. If you're not ticketed, admission will be based on available occupancy, to help keep staff and visitors healthy.

Alice's Wonderland Reimagined | Atlanta Botanical Garden | Photo by Travis Swann Taylor

Imaginary Worlds is back for an exciting third year in a row, this year's theme being "Alice's Wonderland Reimagined", and it includes Alice herself!

Alice's Wonderland Reimagined | Atlanta Botanical Garden | Photo by Travis Swann Taylor

Just as Alice did In the Lewis Carroll classic, she's falling down the rabbit hole—suspended over Howell Fountain at the northeast edge of the Great Lawn. I think you too will fall for this magnificent exhibition! 

Some of the Imaginary Worlds sculptures from the last two years remain, some have traveled on, and Alice's Wonderland Reimagined brings new ones! 

Alice's Wonderland Reimagined | Atlanta Botanical Garden | Photo by Travis Swann Taylor

Not the first sculpture you'll see, but the first new one for Alice's Wonderland Reimagined is through the Crepe Myrtle Allée, just beyond the Levy Parterre and the Japanese Garden. AND it rotates! You'll get better lighting photographing her from the Great Lawn, but being a rotating vignette, you'll have lots of spectacular angles and vistas from where to capture memories of your visit.

Alice's Wonderland Reimagined | Atlanta Botanical Garden | Photo by Travis Swann Taylor

One of the new pieces is the Red Queen--at 16-foot tall--playing croquet in the Skyline Garden. This hilarious and gigantic diorama depicts the Red Queen using a flamingo for a mallet, a hedgehog for a ball, and a red card centurion for a hoop!

Alice's Wonderland Reimagined | Atlanta Botanical Garden | Photo by Travis Swann Taylor

With the Garden's extended hours, they're gifting us "Cocktails in the Garden" every evening from 5pm-9pm! Note that last entry is at 8:30pm. And the sculptures are dramatically lit for an unique perspective on something that is already quite unique! 

Alice's Wonderland Reimagined | Atlanta Botanical Garden | Photo by Travis Swann Taylor

The Cheshire Cat has been moved from the Perennial Garden to the Skyline Garden, gazing at the complex and brilliantly wonderful Chess Board from Alice's Wonderland.

Alice's Wonderland Reimagined | Atlanta Botanical Garden | Photo by Travis Swann Taylor

The 27-foot tall, picturesque White Rabit is back, too, in the Skyline Garden. 

Alice's Wonderland Reimagined | Atlanta Botanical Garden | Photo by Travis Swann Taylor

The sculptures are created through the centuries-old art of mosaiculture in which steel forms are covered in fabric, filled with soil and planted with thousands of living plants to form a colorful carpet.

The Garden first introduced guests to the art in 2013 when it presented the United States’ first major exhibition of mosaiculture produced by International Mosaiculture de Montreal®, a nonprofit group that has staged wildly successful displays of its work around the world.

Alice's Wonderland Reimagined | Atlanta Botanical Garden | Photo by Travis Swann Taylor

This summer exhibition is merely one of the things happening at the Garden...there's so much more! On  their website, you can now tailor your experience by what you like and why you're there! There's lots for families, first dates, a romantic night out, a girls night out, garden enthusiasts, and a it makes a great addition to your staycation plans!

Alice's Wonderland Reimagined | Atlanta Botanical Garden | Photo by Travis Swann Taylor

Note that at this time, masks are required for all indoor spaces, including bathrooms, cafe/restaurant, as well as the gift shop, conservatory, and orchid center when they re-open soon. The Gainesville location is scheduled to re-open on June 16.

Go see Alice's Wonderland Reimagined now through November 1 at the Atlanta Botanical Garden!

Imaginary Worlds: Alice's Wonderland

Time and again the Atlanta Botanical Garden has outdone itself with a new, exciting, must-see special exhibition and this year's summer exhibition is no exception, other than it's absolutely exceptional! Imaginary Worlds: Alice's Wonderland is wondrous. It delights the imagination. It inspires awe. It is indeed a must-see!

Atlanta Botanical Garden | Imaginary Worlds: Alice's Wonderland
(Photo: Travis Swann Taylor)

This exhibition is a rabbit hole you're happy to fall into and don't plan on coming out quickly. You get to immerse yourself in 16 installations of 38 individual sculptures, many themed after Alice in Wonderland. 

The "White Cat" sculpture is 27-feet tall!!! "Planted" in the Aquatic Pond, be sure to walk the perimeter so you can take in the full experience! At first I din't know what the black pole was holding up the Mad Hatter's hat, but once you're upon it you see that it's an umbrella handle. If you don't walk around the sculpture, you might miss the giant pocket watch and many of the other spectacular details. 

Atlanta Botanical Garden | Imaginary Worlds: Alice's Wonderland
(Photo: Travis Swann Taylor)

As you explore Alice's Wonderland, you too will be smiling, not a Cheshire Cat's mischievous smile, but a smile of delight. 

Atlanta Botanical Garden | Imaginary Worlds: Alice's Wonderland
(Photo: Travis Swann Taylor)

The giant chess board was a gigantic surprise! I've played chess since I was nine years old and it's my favorite game. That this one incorporates my favorite animal—horses—made this a double treat for me and for so many other Garden guests. It's the largest concentration of sculptures, one that you do not want to miss.

Atlanta Botanical Garden | Imaginary Worlds: Alice's Wonderland
(Photo: Travis Swann Taylor)

A nod to the Red Queen, there are heart playing card centurions on the giant chess board! 

Atlanta Botanical Garden | Imaginary Worlds: Alice's Wonderland
(Photo: Travis Swann Taylor)

If you've seen Imaginary Worlds before and wondered "How do they tend to the 'living' sculptures?", many of them are hand-watered. It's fun, and endearing, to see!

Speaking of "hydration", a favorite way to experience the Atlanta Botanical Garden is its spring and summer series on Thursday evenings, Cocktails in the Garden. #datenight

Enjoy a glass of wine, a cocktail, a beer, or the Garden's new beer, a collaboration with local Wild Heaven Beer, called "Garden Beer". It's fantastic and already super-popular with Garden guests! 

Atlanta Botanical Garden | Imaginary Worlds: Alice's Wonderland
(Photo: Travis Swann Taylor)

Some of last year’s Imaginary Worlds: Once Upon a Time crowd-favorites are back, some donning coats of different plant palettes than before...and they're BEAUTIFUL! Be sure to get a garden map on your way in so that you do not miss any of them.

Atlanta Botanical Garden | Imaginary Worlds: Alice's Wonderland
(Photo: Travis Swann Taylor)

Some of the returning sculptures from last years are in different locales, within the Garden, and at least one—Rumpelstiltskin—is now nodding at Atlanta Botanical Garden, Gainesville, a delightful and highly recommended experience!

Atlanta Botanical Garden | Imaginary Worlds: Alice's Wonderland
(Photo: Travis Swann Taylor)

TIP: Remember to charge your phone before or on the way to the Garden. You WILL want to make photos...many, many photos of these enchanting sculptures! 

And while you're snapping photos to share on social media and to revisit later, be sure you're also in-the-moment. This is truly an exceptional experience, one I think you'll want to absorb in its entirety. 

Atlanta Botanical Garden | Imaginary Worlds: Alice's Wonderland
(Photo: Travis Swann Taylor)

Keep an eye out for Alice herself! Like Rumpelstiltskin, she too is nodding. You'll find her in a bed of brightly colored mushrooms being watched over by the Cheshire Cat. Makes one wonder what that Cheshire Cat has been up to...

Atlanta Botanical Garden | Imaginary Worlds: Alice's Wonderland
(Photo: Travis Swann Taylor)

Don't find yourself getting "curiouser and curiouser"...get yourself to the Atlanta Botanical Garden to see Imaginary Worlds: Alice's Wonderland now through Sunday, October 27.