Are you a Collector?

I figure if one is not a collector, then one is done with gardening; thus prone to sitting on the front porch, in rocking chair, staring at various plants gone to seed.

An excerpt follows from the wonderful book "Garden Artistry" by Helen Dillon.

"In this book I describe my attempt at the impossible-to reconcile the collector's instinct with the desire to make a garden that is pleasant to be in, even if you don't know the name of a single plant. This is a challenging task because a collector's garden is all too frequently a cabinet of curiosities, a glorious confection of plants, some planted in splendid isolation as befits their rarity, most dotted about anywhere there is a gap. Squads of smart labels in regimented rows embellish the flower beds. As you can imagine, this approach does not lead to an atmosphere of serenity.

All gardeners are collectors to a certain extent. For some, it may be all things variegated: The sight of a leaf in white, splashed in cream, or ever so slightly mottled in yellow brings immoderate excitement. Others are lured by alpine plants, and the more challenging they are to grow, the better. Collectors may have the urge to own every known species and cultivar in a single genus, and then to discuss the minute differences thereof with like-minded addicts. Or perhaps they simply fall in love with Shirley poppies and from then on want each and every poppy, from Himalayan blue poppies (Meconopsis species) and flamboyant Orientals (Papaver orientale) right down to the Welsh poppy (Meconopsis cambrica)-charm itself, but a true weed at heart.

For the irrepressible collector the thrill is threefold. You learn about a plant-by reading about it, seeing it in someone else's garden, or listening to the gardening cognoscenti discussing it. Then ensues the chase, with attendant excitement. And finally the moment of acquisition. Bliss.

The collector's garden may thus contain an astonishing assortment of bulbs, herbaceous perennials, trees, shrubs, annuals, biennials, and roses (old-fashioned or otherwise). To organize this array of plants-remembering the soil and light requirements, aspect, season of bloom, height, spread, and color of each-is more difficult than a jigsaw puzzle, because no sooner do you finish a section than the peices move off on their own accord. And the best-laid plans are often confounded by plants imbued with such uncontrollable wanderlust that they have no intention of staying where you put them in the first place.

Some sort of order needs to be imposed on this vast accumulation. The principal ways of doing this are, first, to give the garden a fairly formal design that will contain exuberant plantings within a strong framework; second, to group plants according to their culture need, creating special areas for those with particular requirements, such as alpines, lime haters, shade lovers, or plants needing a sheltered spot; and third, to group plants by color.

I feel emphatically that a formal design, on however modest a scale, allows the collecting spirit free rein. You can get away with placing umpteen plants higgledy-piggledy provided they are contained within strict, architectural lines.

....."

I couldn't agree more about establishing the 'bones' of the garden first. From then on, the creativeness in us all takes over!

Were you sneaking in my gardens?? (Heh, heh...)

Hi Evelyn!, yes, into your famous gardens. Helen thinks along the same lines as I do about using formal structure in the cottage garden. I use focal points for direction, clipped boxwood hedges, and the like. At the same time disguising the formality to a degree. At my interview Thursday for Master Gardener, they asked for a favorite garden interest. I said landscaping. I hope they don't expect me to do design work for anyone. It is too time consuming.

Good luck! And congratulations!

Golddog, if you need to practice, you can come work in my gardens, lol. I started out with structure, but tucking 200+ brugmansias and assorted tropicals into 2 acres can be a challenge.(did I mention the 600 daylilies and umpteen hostas?) I have spent all summer looking at what I did wrong. I've promised myself that I will be more organized next year!! Before the tropical plants, it was easier. I had coleus in a bed, daylilies in their own beds and phlox could run rampant thru the perennial beds. Then I discovered ornamental grass(it will have it's own garden next year) and of course the brugmansias...there is no hope for me...I need a big farm!!(and if you think my gardens are a mess, you should see my little greenhouse that these tropical plants have to fit into for the winter)

Golddog, you did sneak over here! Not fair! You should have called first and I would have given you the guided tour :D

I have a collector's mentality, and my gardens reflect that. Why should I give space to planting in groups of 5, when that means I have to abandon growing 5 different varieties of the same species (or genus) with different growing habits? They look kind of messy up close, but so satisfying.

I fell into an old rose collection (ouch!) and we have worked the structure with wooden fences around which the roses are planted. I also have 3 rock gardens, 2 of which are actually planted and tended, that serve as sites for a few alpines, some little shade lovers, and a few roses that I bought. I'm working on a bed with a sour wood tree, two large old roses and a couple of other things that is slowly becoming a little vegetable plot. Then there are the hollyhocks that live everywhere, the raggedy perennial border opposite the first rose fence with it's collection of native flowers and shrubs, peonies, Japanese iris, Siberian iris and some miniature bearded iris (and a partridge in an American chesnut trees!).

Do I have to choose a collection?

No clipped boxwood hedges here...

A "Dark Side Garden"
A "Peach of a Garden"
A White Daisy Garden
A White Flower Border, half sun, half shade
A Veggie Garden - to be redesigned, inside the deer fence
Two Driveway Gardens
A Hillside Garden - mostly herbs on hot, dry clay
A shade garden, though a lot of morning sun
A rock garden

No water gardens or ponds. Too many mosquitoes and wild life that it would attract....