Who Decides what’s Pretty?

Posted by Katie Elzer-Peters
September 28th, 2009
Filed in Annuals and Perennials
Tags: annuals, herb gardens, meadow gardens, native plant gardening, native plants, perennials

I’m back from the Garden Writers Symposium in Raleigh, NC.  It was, as per usual, a great time!  This year, in particular, I talked with a wider cross-section of garden professionals including writers, lecturers, photographers, illustrators, retail owners, plant breeders, tv personalities, publishers, and so on and so forth.

Here’s Where I Play Eye Doctor

I went to the eye doctor a few weeks ago so that I could order some surfing sunglasses.  When you go to the eye doctor, they flip and slide lenses into place in a giant contraption and then ask you “Is it better now?”  (slide some things around)  “Or now?”  “Is number 7″ (slide some things around) “or number 8 clearer.”  “Can you see with this”  (flip and move and such) “or this?”  By the end of the appointment, it is kind of hard to tell if I’m going to end up with a new prescription that is better or blurrier than my current lenses.  If they dilate my eyes, well, FORGET IT.

Talking to breeders of perennials, breeders of annuals, breeders of bulbs, professional gardeners turned writers and professional writers turned gardeners about their favorite plants/gardens/vistas/styles  was kind of like going to the eye doctor.

Did I prefer this:

Coastal meadow garden at the North Carolina Botanical Garden

Or this?

Herb garden at the JC Raulston Arboretum

Both are sweeping landscapes.  The coastal meadow garden is composed entirely of native plants, sown wildly, so as to mimic nature.  The plants in that garden grow together in the wild, and look as if they belong.  The herb garden plants are all cultivated, and originate from different parts of the world.  They make a good combination, pleasing to the eye, even though the only place you will ever find them growing together is in a garden.  You won’t accidentally stumble upon this combination anywhere in the wild.

How about this:

Dahlia (hybrid, cultivar, or something that's been "tinkered with")

Or this?

Asters and Coreopsis, native plants

I like them all!  It was interesting to sit and listen to a perennial breeder and an annual breeder discuss their preferences.  They admitted they were biased, due to their chosen professions, but thank goodness they both still survive in this world.

No Dark without Light

I spent most of the garden tour time running around snapping pictures of pretty plant combinations.  I almost always gravitate toward contrasts.  In the picture immediately above, the purple is enhanced by the yellow.  The dahlia flower is brighter because it is set against burgundy foliage.  In my mind, the coastal meadow is all the more beautiful when compared to the orderly herb border, and the herbs stand out as individuals when considered with the wild tangle of the native meadow.

What do you think?  Do you like order or chaos in your garden?