Gnomes and More Gnomes

We love Reiman Gardens, and we visit a lot.  This year, their theme is lawn decorations...specifically:  gnomes!  Now this is something that could be very tacky, but when you see it, they did it so beautifully.  It is so full of fun, and whimsy, you just want to take it all home with you and put it in your yard.  They had almost 30 gnomes in the gardens, and I think I got almost every one of them with my camera. The very first one we saw was this 'biker' gnome.  They all had really cute names, I won't list them all here, but you may be able to find them on the website. 

Each gnome was exactly alike in form, but was painted and decorated by different groups, so they each have their own distinct personality.  I love this one, he seems to float in this cloud of catmint, which is one of my favorite perennials.

My son found the bell chimes, and was getting his boogie on for our amusement.

This is my favorite space in the whole garden.  I don't know what its' real name is, but I call it the agave room.  Usually it is filled with huge blue and green agaves and aloes.  I never thought a flock of plastic lawn flamingos could be peaceful, but it just works. The blues and purples, mixed with the silver draping; I could just sit here all day and be content. 

My dad visited us last week, and he accompanied us on our trip to the gardens.  Here, he and my son pose next to the world's largest concrete gnome.  There is a larger gnome in I think, Norway, but it is made out of something else.

Each gnome is so individual, we delighted in finding them hiding behind things, on top of walls, around corners. We even got to vote for our favorite at the end.

In the tropical room, they had a huge center display of bottle trees representing different seasons.  I understand that bottle trees are quite common in the south, I have only seen one in someone's yard here in Iowa. I can't say that I would want something this big with bottles on it in my yard, but this one is definitely pretty. 

This was my favorite gnome.  I loved all the blown glass he was wearing and holding.  I have never been much of a gnome person, but I might consider getting one after this.  I guess you can order replicas of this gnome and paint it yourself if you so desire.  This was a wonderful day, getting to spend time with dad and my son, seeing the beautiful flowers and on top of it all, the cute lawn ornaments.  What a fun way to spend a summer day!