If you are going to put monumental plant sculptures in the botanical garden they ought to be made entirely of plants. That includes the skeleton. It might take 50 years to raise a tree to look like a cobra and grow appropriate plants upon it in a symbiotic mix. But so much the more for wonder.
And the sculptures themselves should not be stereotyped representations of gorillas and frogs and such. They should be beautiful and original. Imaginary Worlds is disappointing: unremarkable sculptures papered over with plants.
(Note: I don’t prefer topiary; pruning a bush to look like a squirrel is just as superficial an art as wallpapering a squirrel statue with herbs.)
And if you’re going to give me Arcimboldo’s vegetables portraits in the flesh, they’d better be made with real vegetables. Anything else is a monument to disappointment.
I’d much rather not have these tasteless distractions in what is an otherwise wonderful garden.
I do, though, like the Chihuly.