You Grow Girl™

Posted: 22-02-04 9:58

My sister thought it would be fun to make up a collection of one hundred garden themes. Like these ones that I've seen described:

1. Shakespeare's Garden (plants mentioned in Shakespeare)
2. The Holy Garden (plants mentioned in the Bible or I suppose the Koran)
3. The Moonlight Garden (white plants, night blooming plants and things that release perfume at night)
4. The Butterfly Garden (milkweed and others plants that attract butterflies)
5. The Poison Garden (foxglove, belladonna and so on)
6. The Sanguinary Garden (Bloodroot, Love Lies Bleeding, Bleeding Hearts etc.)
7. The Bathtub Garden (soapwort, loofa, aloe etc., planted in a bathtub)
8. The Garden of Rock (plants named for rock stars... there was a great list on the previous forum)

Or some I thought of:

9. The Alphabetical Garden, where plants all begin with one letter or - if you have enough room - 26 plant groupings that represent each letter in order)
10. A Garden for Cats: a collection of catnips and catmints, successive seedings of catgrass, flea-repellent plants, other durable plants that provide interesting little caves, a sunny spot or two for basking and a discreet sandy bed for excretion.

Continue, please...

Posted: 22-02-04 21:45

sarah: i love the cat garden theme!

what about gothic gardens? (with black or dark red plants, maybe some herbs for "spells"........im not into goth culture otherwise, but i think this type of garden would be very soothing. someplace quiet, secretive. with broken and mossed over statuary and overgrowth everywhere.)

also, a blue garden! ive been playing with the idea for a while, and im going to try it this spring: picture lots of himalayan poppies, borage, heavenly blue morning glories, Campanula poscharskyana, idaho fescue "siskiyou blue"and other blue fescues, blue oat grass, delphinium, etc. etc. (anyone know of any electric blue flowers similar to the himilayan poppy? suggestions welcome)----plus you could turn this into any color themed garden....maybe even a "rainbow" with rows of each color in rainbow order........

a different spin on the bible/holy garden that my grandparents have worked hard on is the mary garden, with flowers pertaining to the virgin mary, like lambs ears, ladys mantle, shasta daisys, roses, lavender, assumption lily, bleeding hearts, johnny-jump-ups (trinity flowers), canterbury bells, english daisy, foxglove, hollyhock, sweet william.....there are so many. the interesting thing about mary gardens: they were abundant in midieval times. flower and plant symbolism was important, and the plants chosen for mary gardens were aides to contemplation and meditation.

a greek mythology garden would be great, too, with plants that symbolize the gods and goddesses, as well as events in the stories themselves: anemone, poppy and violet for venus, the laurel for daphne who escaped apollo by becoming one, the narcissus, maidenhair fern for prosperine, grapevine and wheat (maybe you could substitute some kind of grass) for dionyssus, the willow for demeter, the lily and crocus for hera. pretty much every god/goddess had a flower that represented them.

Posted: 23-02-04 21:50

Garden for the Blind - I really enjoy the blind garden we have in town-- all the plants are touchable and smell good!

Soundgarden - I'm not just being a goof, some plants sound fantastic when the wind blows. Big bamboo can be like a windchime, cedars whisper, etc.

Posted: 23-02-04 22:33

a blind garden: i love that idea! you could probably integrate both together for a wonderful experience........some type of water feature that babbles would be great, and of course the birds chirping would add to the aural aspect!

Posted: 01-03-04 11:21

Ont eh religious theme, what about a paradise garden, which represents eden- I think its supposed to have running water, dappled shade, and a strong axis for the four directions.

Posted: 01-03-04 14:12

How about a message garden? Taking "meanings" of flowers to form themes?

Love:

Aster: Elegance and Love
Azalea: First Love
Forget-me-not: Faithful Love
Red Chrysanthemum: Love
Tulip: Love and Passion
Red Rose: Love and Passion

Perhaps even painting the meaning of the flower on rocks that can be scattered around the plantings?

Posted: 01-03-04 15:24

Ooh! Ooh! I love this topic!! I have always wanted to grow a "black" garden with black hollyhocks, pansies, irises, etc. So many good ideas already mentioned...

Posted: 01-03-04 15:26

How 'bout an Alice in Wonderland garden. Plant the flower bed from Through the Looking Glass (daylilies and daisys off the top of my head). A moss chessboard. Peony trees, some red some white near the cricket grounds with plastice flamengos planted around and hedgehogs. A cheshire cat it a tree. A shady corner for a tea party.

Posted: 01-03-04 16:48

cool topic Laughing

how about a garden with ONLY water plants?? in small and medium sized tubs??

Posted: 02-03-04 11:36

oooo alice in wonderland garden, i want one!

this site has some neat seed collections, including a collection of seeds for a shakespeare garden and color gardens:

http://www.nothyme.com/seeds/seedcollections.cfm

Posted: 02-03-04 12:48

How about the Hanging Garden of Babylon? I couldn't find any info on what kinds of plants were used... but I'm envisioning mosses... big leafy plants. *shrug*

Nifka-- those seed kits would make great gifts. I have lots of those clear-lidded tins for beads and craft things, and I was wondering how seeds would fare in them... Hm... I smell Christmas gift ideas... Wink

Posted: 02-03-04 15:04

www.sciplus.com had a bunch of those kind of tins for sale, they are for seed collecting. They do make great gifts.

what is a garden without a sign? in the Alice garden how 'bout a sign that says "you are free to gyre and gimbole in this wabe"

here is another garden stone that I saw once
The kiss of the sun for pardon
The song of the birds for mirth
You are nearer God's heart
in a garden
Than anywhere alse on earth

Joined: 08 Sep 2004 Posts: 3 Location: Iowa

Hi everybody, I am new. From what I've seen so far this is a great website. I love the idea of garden themes. I've only recently become aware of the possibilities involved in gardening. I wanted to respond to something Sarah said, "2. The Holy Garden (plants mentioned in the Bible or I suppose the Koran)".

Historically, the Torah (Holy book of the Jewish people) predates the New Testament (main religious text of the Christian faith), which predates the Koran (scriptures central to Islam). So if, Sarah, you are referring to the original text (and you made it obvious you weren't sure), you most likely meant the Torah.

I am excited about learning more from all of you, and getting more of an idea of how to create the gardens mentioned by the topics above.

Leah

Posted: 08-09-04 23:04

This topic is wonderful. I never thought of a theme garden, but what a great idea. My creative juices are a flowin'. I like to grow a bunch of Sunflowers, for the birds to eat over winter. I was in the garden this evening and a revelation, which has always been there, reappeared to me. A big bee came in to a sunflower. All of a sudden, I found myself recalling the everything tied together in Nature concept. The bee gets pollen and nectar, the plant gets pollenated and continues life with seeds for future generations, the birds get a dinner in mid winter, the plant matter enriches the soil.

Posted: 10-09-04 16:24

I hate to risk throwing cold water on such a beautiful and compelling thread. However, I just have to point out that someone's idea of a Shakespeare garden containing not only plants but also animals mentioned in Shakespeare resulted in the introduction of the Starling to North America Rolling Eyes

! That said, I like Starlings - very resourceful, clever, and humorous birds, really.

Posted: 11-09-04 19:15

ok, how about a make-out garden... garden of earthly delights! you could grow a whole bunch of aphrodisiacs (lavender, passion flower, roses... mangos in the right climate) and lay it out to have a lot of screened nooks!

Posted: 12-09-04 19:57

ookpik - cool idea! you could plant herbs to use in love potions too. Caraway, catnip, coriander, dill, elecampane, lemon verbena, lovage, meadowsweet, orris, rosemary, spearmint, valerian, vervain, yarrow.
er - not that I would use a love potion on anyone....

Old Growth Joined: 19 May 2004 Posts: 89 Location: toronto

...you could also use sensual plants. There are a lot of parts on plants that look, um, phallic or vulvic (is that a word?). Orchids and some pitcher plants (nepenthes) come to mind. This might have to be an indoor garden for many people Wink

Carniverous plants could also be used for a deadly suduction garden which lures pesky houseflies to their untimely death! Twisted Evil

A child's garden with brightly coloured flowers, 'touchable' plants, plants that are strongly scented, that attract butterflies and hummingbirds, fruits and vegetables, odd or funny looking plants, the list could go on... Maybe a little sitting area with child size furniture or a play area.

Old Growth Joined: 14 Feb 2004 Posts: 230 Location: DC

auntiem wrote:

How 'bout an Alice in Wonderland garden. Plant the flower bed from Through the Looking Glass (daylilies and daisys off the top of my head). A moss chessboard. Peony trees, some red some white near the cricket grounds with plastice flamengos planted around and hedgehogs. A cheshire cat it a tree. A shady corner for a tea party.

I was thinking the same thing... only you could have a "Paint the Roses" theme"!

Plant some rose bushes with the speckled red and white on the petals, multi-coloured cosmos, other dreamy flowers, plant a nice grassy area to sit and read, put in some pink flamengos, bleeding hearts, and grow some mushrooms...!

and then have a tea party with mini sugar cakes that say "eat me".

Posted: 14-09-04 10:25

raven wrote:

A child's garden with brightly coloured flowers, 'touchable' plants, plants that are strongly scented, that attract butterflies and hummingbirds, fruits and vegetables, odd or funny looking plants, the list could go on... Maybe a little sitting area with child size furniture or a play area.

How about a Dr. Seuss theme... a collection of odd, curvy looking shrubs and spruces, pouffy tufts of ornamental grass in different shades of blue-green, and funky textured ground covers?