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Plant Artistry - Creative Fun in the Garden

© Carol Wallace

You have probably heard of the term "Painting with Plants." The phrase, to me, has always meant that the different plants and foliage all work together to create a pretty picture. After all, good garden design also follows the rules of artistic composition - scale, texture, harmony and contrast, and more - and color in the garden works much as it does on paper - put a true red with a true green and they will almost appear to vibrate.

That is how I have always painted with my plants. I can't draw, but I can rearrange growing things into a pleasing composition. I love to choose my colors to create a mood - misty mauves and silvers by the gazebo where we stop to take our rest, vivid hot colors near the pond which keeps them from getting too heated. Varying shades of green, with the visual interest created through texture and shape rather than color, which creates a hushed, tranquil feeling. The plants do not create any recognizable picture other than that of a garden full of harmonious (I hope) plants. The earth is my canvas and I use it to create feelings rather than portraits.

But there are other ways to interpret the idea of playing artist with a host of plants. These range from some garden schemes that are almost like those paint by numbers kits we did as kids, to some that are vaguely impressionist to others that might be classified as primitive or naïve. And then there are some gardeners who go beyond the idea of painting with plants - who use them more as a medium for sculpting.

For someone like me who can't draw the idea that I can still be an artist of some kind is a great comfort. Maybe you too can find your niche in the world of Plant Artistry. Here are some of the categories that I have seen.

PLANT PAINTINGS

Bedding Out
Victorians had a different notion about painting with plants. You are no doubt familiar with Victorian bedding schemes. In these, the plants are actually arranged in such a way that they paint a real picture. Floral clocks are one form of bedding scheme - one which was very popular at the Philadelphia Flower Show 2000 - the unofficial start of the new millennium. And I have been greeted with a "Welcome to _____" bedding scheme as I travel by car through different states. Bedding schemes such as this are not dead - but they are usually limited to public gardens, since they are highly labor-intensive.

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