GARDENS OF SENSATIONS
A Mad Party
A Mad Party
“Do you think I’ve gone round the bend?” “I’m afraid so. You’re mad, bonkers, completely off your head. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.” The Cheshire Cat Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
The Cheshire Cat was right. The best people are mad. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is the quintessential entanglement of the senses. Our garden, entitled ‘A Mad Party’ is a celebration of mixing reality with fantasy and mingling smells, with light, color and plant life. A Mad Party begins with the garden tea party. Alice stumbled upon the Mad Hatter’s tea party while looking for the March Hare. A visitor to Chaumont will stumble upon our party in the same way, but instead of tea, we are leading them on a journey of scents. The oversize table will be filled with jars of varying sizes filled with colorful liquids. While the light flooding through the jars will dazzle the eye, the real wonder is inside. Each jar will be filed with a different essential oil used in the process of making a perfume. Honoring a cherished French tradition made famous in Grasse, some 900 km from Chaumont-sur-Loire, we bring the visitor on a journey of sampling the fragrances used in perfumery. The jars contain the aromas of citrus bouquets like mango, cassis and peach. Each visitor can open the jars and breath in memory activating vanilla, honey and sandalwood. The Modern olfactory families of bright floral, green, aquatic, citrus and fruity are all represented in the colorful jars. Just like the perfumer, on special days, the tea table becomes a laboratory as garden visitors can use cut pieces of coffee filter to mix and match scents to create and take away they own custom smells. The larger garden solidifies this theme by using specific fragrant plantings used in the perfume process that grow in the Chaumont-sur-Loire region. Each plant gives a different scent experience. Lavender leaves remind the visitor of their grandmothers house. Early Lilac reminds another visitor of the spring day they met their lover. The different smells and colors transport people to different times and places. Mimicking the fountain shape of the various plantings, arching repurposed rebar gracefully spring from the plantings to offer hanging jars that have additional scents unable to grow in this climate like tonka bean and passion fruit. Referencing Alice in Wonderland, each scent and planting come with a small tag telling them to “Smell Me!” Just like Alice obeying the “Drink Me” vial, users prepare themselves to be transformed to a new reality. The journey through the A Mad Party become one of interactive involvement and discovery.
Section through the Mad Party scent table
Va. Va.
Cc.
Va. Va.
Ld.
Ls.
Va. Va.Va. Va. Va. Sb. Va. Cc. Va.
Jn. Jn. Js. Js. Ab.
Ls. Bd.
Ca. Ca. Ca. So.
So. So. So.So. So.So. Ca. Ca. So.So. So.Ca. Ca.Ca.Ca. Ca.
Bd. Cn. Ca. Ca. Ca. Ca. Ca.
Ca.
Ab.
3’x2’ Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’
Early Fall Bloom
Licorice
Bd.
5’x5’ Buddleia davidii
Summer bloom
Nectar
Cn.
1’x1’ Calamintha nepeta
Summer/Fall Bloom
Mint/Oregano
Cc.
3’x3’ Caryopteris x clandonensis “DK’
Summer
Minty leaves
Ca.
4’x4’ Clethera alnifolia ‘Ruby Spice’
Later Summer
Sweet
Js.
2’x3’ Juniperus squamata
foliage color
juniper berry
Jh.
8”x2’ Junioerus horizontalis
foliage color
juniper berry
Ld.
3’x3’ Lavandula dentata
Early Summer to Fall Lavender
Ls.
2’x2’ Lavandula stoechas
Summer to Fall
Lavender
Sb.
2’x3’ Salvia officalis ‘Berggarten’
Spring to Summer
Sage leaves
So.
5’x6’ Syringa oblata var. dilatata
Va.
Spring Bloom
Lilac
Va.
7’x8’ Vitex agnus castus
Summer bloom
Sweet
Thymus praecox ‘Albiflorus’ Ca. Ls.
Summer bloom
Thyme
Ceder mulch
na
Ceder
Jn.
na
50'
So.
Cc.
Sb.
Also used for ground cover: Tp.
25'
Cn.
Bd.
Ld.
Ab.
Js.
Proposed Budget Material Plant Materials: Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’ Buddleia davidii Calamintha nepeta Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Dark Knight’ Clethera alnifolia ‘Ruby Spice’ Juniperus squamata Juniperus horizontalis Lavandula dentata Lavandula stoechas Salvia officinalis ‘Berggarten’ Syringa oblata var dilatata Thymus praecox ‘Albiflorus’ Vitex agnus castus
Size
Qty.
Unit Cost
Cost
2’x4’ 5’x6’ 1’x1’ 3’x3’ 4’x4’ 2’x3’ 8” 3’x3’ 2’x2’ 2’x3’ 5’x6’ flat 7’x8’
40 10 60 30 20 10 20 20 35 25 12 31 15
$7.95 $18.95 $7.95 $18.95 $18.95 $25.95 $18.95 $10.50 $10.50 $7.95 $40.00 $7.95 $18.95
$318.00 $189.50 $477.00 $568.50 $379.00 $259.50 $379.00 $210.00 $367.50 $198.75 $480.00 $246.45 $284.25
Total USD 4357.45 EUR 3336.50 Non Plant materials: Repurposed Mason Jars various 50 $3.00 $150.00 Essential Oils group pack $750.00 Repurposed Rebar Various 20 $42.50 $850.00 String spools 3 $10.00 $30.00 Table 18’x6’ 1 $2,800 $2,800.00 Decomposed Granite medium grain 360sqft $900.00 Cedar mulch shredded 5 cu.ft $75.00 Cedar Branches found $0.00 Mismatched stools various 12 $75.00 $900.00 Total Grand Total
USD 6,455.00 EUR 4,942.50 USD 10,812.45 EUR 8,279.00