Garden trends

Let's talk garden trends.....
Any current trends you'd like to try?
Any past trends you liked and still use?
How about past trends that you couldn't understand why anyone would do it?

They one trend I had used before I knew any better was white marble chips over the weed blocker...YIKES was that a mistake

Here's some trends looking ahead to 2012

Color in everything besides the flowers themselves
Metal
Birds
Looks like modern and urban contempory are themes( that's one I'll be steering clear of)

japanese maples..................and garden rock art.................

When I was in FL, it was river rock over all the beds.....now it seems to be container planting.....I go with what I like, easy-care perennials, easy to germinate annuals.....

Garden nymphs.

Living in your pond?

No, doing all my gardening labor as I supervise.

Oh....not a bad idea.....what's the masculine version of a nymph?

Richard Simmons?

Heehee

No thanks, Victor!

May I join this discussion? I've been watching this forum but haven't posted in awhile.
There seems to be a small but steady trend toward native plants reviving, following the trends toward
sustainability.
I've slowly started changing my garden from a typical cottage garden to a native plant garden with a
loose cottagey look.
It has been a challenge finding straight species rather then cultivars.
Since I have a small garden and every plant counts I'm still experimenting but I have been finding
similar types of natives to replace the non natives.
I've been particularly happy with the replacements for early blooming bulbs.
Although our native ephemerals bloom a little later then the traditional crocus and other small bulbs
I'm finding lovely combinations using bloodroot (with leaves like land bound waterlilies), hepatica,
rue anemone, wild wood phlox, tiarella, sedum ternata, barren strawberry,bluets and so many more.

very pretty Semp!!

i agree!

Yes - very nice!

So pretty!

and you never have to ask to join one of our discussions, just jump right in! Glad to have you

Very nice...I do grow a few natives, but the asters just take over the whole garden.....

Thank you for the welcome and compliments.

Robindog, I can never have too many asters ! (except for an impulse buy (mistake) of a cultivar called Fanny that no insect goes near because the flower petals are so dense they can't get to the center).
The trick is to plant them with naive grasses ( for me that's little bluestem my absolute favorite, switch grass and indian grass, and other large plants like Baptisia (false indigo), amsonia (bluestar), ironweed and joe-pye-weed.

The grass /aster combination has the advantage of the grass being a host plant for skippers who then cover the asters in pursuit of nectar in the fall.
The asters are showing in the back left of the photo with NY ironweed, switch grass, joe-pye weed and lots of brown-eyed susans. The vines in the distance are native honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens.

Even in a small space these giants can look well with each other. It's just a matter of trial and error (lots of error), which is the fun part for us gardeners.
At first I was at a complete loss at placing the larger plants but the they lean on and compliment each other, so they do all the design work.
The real payoff is the increased amount of insects, butterflies and birds that visit.
The seed heads and the fall colors are an added plus.

And it's very attractive, too!

Nice to meet you and your gardens, Semperv. No doubt there is a lot you could teach me about native plants. I have found it of interest that many plants that are rampant around here were invaders more than 200 years ago, and others that aren't around anymore are the true natives. I'd love to find more of those true natives to cultivate, in trees, shrubs or perennials.

The other trend I've been noticing, but not doing myself is more vegetable gardening.
I've always liked the look of creative food and flower gardens grown together in an aesthetically pleasing combination, but I'm not ready to
invest so much time to keeping it up.
This one is motivated by the economy. Lots more people are even raising chickens in the suburbs.
The stray remnants of a potager I have are a constant supply of self seeding kale I treat as an ornamental
until I'm ready to eat it. Hard neck garlic is also a pretty plant when the swan neck forms, those garlic scapes turned out to be edible also but I left enough for it also to self seed.
Does anyone have a potager?

The photo shows some of the kale at the base of the switch grass.

Amen to doing what pleases you. My personal trend is toward dwarf evergreens. I've been eyeballing that annoying hydrangea that takes a lot of space and produces only a few flowers, as well as looking really ugly in early spring. An evergreen in that spot would look good all four seasons. I recently visited the National Arboretum in DC and found it very inspiring.

I don't even know what a potager is

flowAjen, A potager is a French term for an ornamental kitchen or vegetable garden that is aesthetically pleasing.
It includes flowers, sometimes edible, as part of the design.

Another trend is zone busting. Between global warming and our newer techniques it makes sense that plants can jump into a colder zone or two. I have three Southern Magnolias in pots that I'm growing from little tiny plugs. One is about two feet high now. There are two garden areas where I think cold hardy camellias will do, and the idea of growing some real tropicals such as palm trees is also exciting. True to their name, Miami University of Ohio is a place that pioneers this stuff. Chief gardener there wrote a neat book, Palms Don't Grow Here: And Other Myths. If truly dedicated to growing a tropical garden, one can use Christmas lights for heat and bubble wrap for protection on the coldest days. My DS was showing off his car on Facebook, so he photoshopped tropicals around it among the real plants in our driveway garden. It WOULD be incredible.

Even aside from that, some of the colder zone areas used to grow more southern trees that died out with settlers' cultivation and the period of colder temps in the early 20th century. I was amazed to learn from forest service sites that the tupelo tree used to be native to Massachusetts, but was wiped out when swamps were filled to build cities.I'd like to find some more examples like this in order to restore some diversity.

I love this tupelo tree, Nyssa "Red Rage." It's fall color will be wonderful once we've cleared the ground to plant it by the shed next year.

The baby Southern magnolias I have so far are Victoria ( pictured here), and two Bracken's Brown Beauties. Many that test well in northern climates still aren't available to buy even since internet has opened up many niche markets.

Cool thread, Jen! You always come up with interesting ideas for discussion.
Semper - you hit my thoughts right on the money! Here in Florida, I've been relying more and more on natives. I was so happy to see that my garden of natives in the back of the yard got no watering during the dry spell, but every plant looks just fine! Jen, I have a potager to the right of our front door at the farm. I grow kitchen herbs there mixed in with a Buddleia, astilbe and bright red coleus. It is pretty as well as convenient for snipping the herbs when I'm "creating" food..

Rosemary, I love the idea of trying plants from warmers zones....have you tried any of the hardier camellias?

Robin, I have spots planned for my first Ackerman hybrid camellias come spring. The historic Lyman Estate in Waltham has a camellia festival every February. Their zone 6 rated camellias sell out instantly so they promised the're ordering even more this year. I found online sources too.

This blog has a lot of good ideas for winter hardy camellias even though the writer is down south.

http://carolynsshadegardens.com/2011/04/01/woody-plants-for-shade/

I tried to grow camellias here in Fla, but they didn't survive the heat of the summer. At Bok Tower in Fla, there are so many gorgeous camellias, but it's in central Fla. in a different zone. They are lovely flowers.

Oh, Rosemary, I loved those camellias! I can certainly find room for one here. I didn't know that they wouldn't grow in your area, Louise.....I planted one at our home in The Villages, but it didn't make it....however, I found lawnmower cuts on it!

It will be fun to make some camellia selections, maybe in front of the fireplace on a cold night.

Thanks Louise *blushing*


LOVE the red camelia

I think the red one might be on my list, but it'd have to go near a window to see it bloom in winter.

The camellia I lost was a pretty red one too. :). Sad to have one chomped by a lawn mower, Marilyn!

Jen - you make me laugh! Blushing, LOL..

Louise, forgot to say on the other thread that I envy the pink Mandevilla you purchased for $4.....I saw one for sale in the $35 range....walked on by.....

Wow! I think they were near that price last year when I looked at them here. I'm very tempted to go get another one, but they didn't have many.

One in every color would be nice...:>)