Theme Gardens have become increasingly popular of late, be it formal Victorian style gardens, quaint English Cottage Gardens, Biblical Plants gardens, Japanese gardens or Garden Troll gardens.
Shade Perennial Gardens present certain opportunities and challenges if you are interested in organizing your garden around a certain theme. In one regards, shade perennial gardens already have a theme built into them: shade-loving plants. Just by gardening in a shaded area, you will have already predetermined a whole body of plants that are suitable for that gardening area. But some gardeners would like to pursue other themes in their shade perennial gardens as well.
There are some limitations when constructing a themed shade perennial garden. First, you should be aware that since you will only be limited to shade loving plants, some themes may be difficult if not impossible. For example, most shade perennial flowers come in muted shades - whites, pinks, and blues primarily. So creating a shade perennial garden centered around red and green flowers would be a challenge. You may also find it difficult to pursue themed gardens that rely heavily on sun loving plants, like some regional themed gardens may do.
But there are some great opportunities for themed shade perennial gardens as well. Shade perennial gardens centered around white shade perennial flowers would be an easy theme to pursue. In fact, monochromatic color themes are ideal for most shade perennial garden layouts, as long as you stick to the colors you generally find for shade perennial flowers.
You may also find shade perennial gardens amenable to structures such as fountains and benches, since by nature they tend to be restful and relaxing places to spend some time. Shade perennial gardens are also great places to pursue whimsical themes centered around creatures such as frogs, trolls or fairies. The dark spaces of your shade perennial garden can be a wonderful place to hide creatures that will delight visitors young and old alike.
As with any garden, planning and preparation are often key to a successful themed garden. But by keeping in mind what are the limitations and opportunities for a themed shade perennial garden, you should be well on your way to creating a wonderful shade garden.
For even more tips and advice regarding gardening in shade perennial gardens, please return to the Shade Perennial Garden Home Page.
