A surprising visit at the Mercurart garden

Ain't this special, the temperatures are  below the seasonal norms and yet a small walk in the Mercurart garden gave us a nice surprise...

A Day Peacock was foraging one of our pink rosemary.
Two enchantments on the same photograph !

Did you already planned your stay in the Ardèche and your visit at the Mercurart garden and gallery ?

Mercurart under the snow

Aerial shots, Thursday, March 1st.


Mercurart under the snow ....

Roses @ Mercurart

More than 90 % of the roses in the Mercurart garden are remontant (continuous flowering).
Which, despite the hot, dry conditions, gives beautiful blooming all summer.

St Cécilia the 6th of July 2017.                     Bouquet parfait the 6th of July 2017.

Great river Abitulon @ Mercurart

We took this photo in the Mercurart garden,
A bushy plant of the Malvaceae family, originate from Brazil. Abutilon mégapotamicum, the name of the species ( Méga – Great Potamicum – River), refers to the Amazon River.

The “great river” Abitulon can grow until 2 meters tall and spread as wide.

This plant is also known as "The Chinese Lantern Plant", we understand why, by seeing the flowers…

"Soumission" (Submission) transcription in steel @Mercurart

Soumission (Submission)
"In 1981, at the time of being fired by my employer, I expressed on canvas a sometimes complacent attitude of managers of companies towards their hierarchy. In 2016, I transcribed these obedient figures in steel and in a large size. The sculpture weighs about 500 kg. These last days we have installed three other pieces against the wall of the entrance to the Art gallery, in a position which anticipates that they are joining the first. »

Jean-Claude Millet

A clever spider @The Mercurart Garden

We met an artist spider, already presented in the blog of July 5, 2017.

But we just found out that its also a forger.

"Cyclosa conica" has as characteristic of weaving a vertical strip more dense in the middle of his painting, a "stabilimentum", she adorns remains of plants and prey.

"In the middle of this line structure, the spider leaves an opening, where it will settle down. Then it also closes this strip of waste and shrink among the debris in the eyes of some potential predators. The spider take part of the rare species that transform their environment so that they can be camouflaged. "For most animals, the camouflage works in reverse: they are the ones who adapt themselves to the environment".

Source RTBF info.

Another reason to name the large sculptures of Séverin, “Les Témoins” (The Witnesses) lays in the fact that one of the two is positioned in the right direction to observe what has just been described.

Swarms of butterflies @Mercurart

With the lavender bloom, each afternoon, in the summer heat, we find swarms of butterflies in the garden...

Red-legged partridge baby birds saved @Mercurart

Exhibition of Chloé Cottalorda

Toads @ Mercurart

There's always something new to discover in the garden @Mercurart...
Who would have thought, before meeting them, that there could be such a variety of toads?... Have a look at all those colors.

A quite rare insect has been crossed in the garden of Mercurart

A quite rare insect has been crossed in the garden of Mercurart,
Let us introduce you the flat headed pine borer "Chalcophora mariana"

Art exhibition of Josiane Poquet

Art exhibition of Josiane Poquet from the 7th to the 23rd of April 2017 at Planzolles in the Ardeche (Auvergne Rhone-Alpes region) was a great success, have a look at her artist page over here...