I love the inspiration of a garden theme. In the past I've blogged about different ideas that caught my fancy ... the Modern Mediterranean Garden, the Half-Barrel Garden, community gardens. The best thing is the list is endless ... wouldn't it be fun to create a Beach Garden, or an Indian Garden? (Hint: the answer is yes!)
I’m fascinated with Rosalind Creasy’s series of books on Edible Gardens (essentially, front yard gardens with an artful mix of ornamental and edible plants). This well-known theme gardener has made a career out of writing about her own edible gardens in their various incarnations (The Italian Edible Garden, the Edible Flower Garden), and provided us with cookbooks to go with these gardens, too!
Recently I heard a presentation by Dr. Paul Licht,.director of the UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley, CA, Their 34-acre garden has 9 geographical areas, as well as many indoor and outdoor specialty collections. You could be in a Japanese garden, overlooking a pond and see into Africa! Now there’s some thematic gardening! I loved his enthusiastic talk and realized that botanical gardens across the country are great shopping places for plant lovers! Not only do these scientifically minded folk delight in rediscovering ancient plants thought to be extinct and bring them back to life, they also sell them to us!
In gardens, one needs similarities … of color, of style, region. This creates a feeling for the whole space. And, one also needs differences … provided by leaf shape, contrasting color or form. This sharpens the focus so the individual items can be appreciated. And, one needs focal points! Yep, they do. Something to catch the eye, a reason to linger.
National or regional themes can provide that unifying effect (or similarity) in a garden. On the larger scale (Earth) they provide the contrast. Perhaps someday we’ll graduate to an even bigger arena, where we’ll be showcasing our planet’s garden features in an interplanetary botanical setting. Easy to image a moon garden (dimpled planet, gardeners wearing anti-gravity suits), but just how far does your imagination take you?
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