The original Chia Head, still selling big 30 years after it was introduced.
Did you get a Chia Pet for Christmas? Chances are you or someone you know did, or maybe you’ve gotten one in the past.Would you believe 500,000 Chia Pets in all their versions including Sponge Bob, President Obama and Willie from Duck Dynasty have sold every year for over 30 years? That’s a lot of ch-ch-chia! The Chia Pet is even in the Smithsonian. True.
There is something about the idea of turning plants into people that has intrigued gardeners and artists for decades. I confess I’m obsessed with plant heads and find myself collecting photos of the best. Lately I’ve been running across a lot of projects with this theme, and so I decided to use my head and share them with you.
This plant head project from A Chef in the Garden looks like she is from the islands.
Gardener “Kat G” in Port Charlotte, Florida, posted her photos of “The Cranium Family” a few years ago. The whole gang is here, even their Yorkie pup. You can find the photos on the HGTV website.
Meet the “Cranium Family.”
This creative, thought provoking sculpture is found at Japan’s Hakone Open Air Museum located in the Kanagawa Prefecture just south of Tokyo. It is one of over 1,000 exhibits at this beautiful complex, a not to be missed attraction for garden or art lovers visiting Japan.
This beautiful sculpture is found at the Hakone Open Air Art Gallery in Japan.
This enchanting girl is one of the exhibits from the original “Imaginary Worlds” exhibit in 2013 at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, one of 19 mosaiculture sculptures. Mosaiculture are topiary taken to the next level, using plants to cover structures built with steel frames, soil and sphagnum moss with irrigations systems built in beneath the surface much like our more complex living walls constructed by GreenScaped Buildings. Mosaicultures were first created by artists in Montreal, Quebec, and go on display there in an annual festival every summer. Keep it in mind if you’re planning a trip this year.
The “Green Goddess” from the Imaginary Worlds exhibit in Atlanta in 2013.
Now, will you ever look at a Chia Pet the same way again? I didn’t think so!
Do you have a cool plant head photo? Post it on our Facebook page and add it to our collection.
