Off the see the - Trolls?

The weather has felt very unlike fall this week.  The morning hours have been foggy and the afternoon hours have been hot.

Sometimes, at sunrise, the fog/marine layer sits just below our elevation, hiding the Port of Los Angeles from view before the fog rises and encompasses us prior to dissipating 

More often, it wraps us in an embrace well before sunrise

I'm waiting out the current heat spell before I do any serious planting.  Instead of putting my most recent mail order plants in the ground, I simply upgraded them to one-gallon pots pending the return of cooler temperatures.  Earlier this week, tired of taking spins around the neighborhood for exercise, I decided to drive six miles to South Coast Botanic Garden to see the garden's Trolls exhibit.  The Trolls were created using salvaged wood pallets by Thomas Dambo, described as a "recycled art activist" based in Denmark. (A biography on Dambo can be found here.) There are over a hundred of these Trolls scattered around the world.  SCBG has six spread across its 87-acre garden.  Their stated mission is the "save the humans" by helping them reconnect to nature.  The exhibit, billed as the first one on the west coast, will remain in place through January 14, 2024.

I met all six Trolls on my walk through the garden.  A map was provided but most were located fairly close to the main tram road so they weren't hard to find.  I started the tour at the butterfly pavilion, which was retooled to serve as the home of Ibbi Pip, the birdhouse troll.

Ibbi may be the tallest of the 6 at SCBG.  The bag tossed over his shoulder contains birdhouses.  These birdhouses serve as signals to keep visitors on the right path to find other Trolls.

They all introduce themselves through signs like this.  There are also signs asking visitors not to climb on the Trolls.

The inside of the butterfly pavilion, currently empty of butterflies, is full of colorful birdhouses

2 "nests" and a bench are provided to allow visitors to sit awhile.  The pavilion has also been replanted with flowers and other plants echoing the colors of the birdhouses.

My route took me to the other Trolls in the following order:

Basse Buller, also called the painting troll, uses rocks to create art

Softus Lotus, also called the listening troll, is 24 feet long and over 7 feet high.  I heard some children speculate that he was sleeping but others pointed out that he has one eye open.

Kamma Can is the trash troll, who uses the colorful plastics and other trash disposed of by humans to create jewelry.  She is reported to be the second largest troll in the exhibit at over 14 feet tall.

Here's Kamma's introduction and a closeup of her necklace.

Ronja Redeye, the speaking troll, appears to be the smallest one.  The sign on the flag, resembling a birdhouse, represents the troll's logo for their "save the humans" campaign.

Rosa Sunfinger, the botanical troll, is 11 feet tall, and likes to grow plants in places like "the smelly metal boxes humans run around in"

As might be expected, the exhibit attracted lots of parents with children.  The children didn't seem at all intimidated or frightened by the Trolls so that was good.  SCBG is offering a variety of Troll-themed classes as a supplement, as well as selling a book describing the campaign to save the humans.  The classes include making jewelry out of trash, crafting flower crowns, and building birdhouses.

I didn't spend a lot of time gawking at plants on this visit but I did take photos of some.

The photos in the top row feature what I believe is Ceiba chodatii, the yellow-flowered silk floss tree.  Pink-flowered Ceiba speciosa are shown in the 2 bottom photos.

Plants in the Senna species are in full bloom now.  There were cloudless sulphur butterflies all over this one but I didn't manage to catch a single photo. 

In concluding this post, I'll throw in two plants that stood out in my own garden this week as well.

On the left are the unusual flowers of Pelargonium schizopetalum.  On the right is a particularly colorful coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides) labeled as 'Florida Sun Rose').  The latter looked sickly and unimpressive in a pot by the front door for months but now looks better than any photos in advertisements I've seen. 

Best wishes for a peaceful weekend communing with nature.  Everyone could use a touch of beauty in their lives in the midst of the world's current turmoil and misery.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party