Gothic Gardening: Theme Gardens

The Garden in Winter

"Now is the winter of our discontent" could be said almost every winter by a gardener. The sky is gray and dreary, the trees are merely the bones of their branches, the earth is cold and the wind is icy. The garden exists in its most skeletal form. If anyone were silly enough to pick the most 'gothic' season, winter would win easily. No sunbathers, no heat (and no heatstroke from wearing black), the days are blissfully short and the nights are chillingly long. But even in winter, a well planned garden can be delightful. With some forethought, you, too, can bundle up in your silks and velvets and leathers and stroll about your winter garden....

Architecture

When all the lush greenery of summer is long gone, the architectural elements of the garden become far more visible. Fences, arbors, paths and walls all become very important visual elements. Well placed statuary provide focal points for the eye. I can't tell you exactly how to construct your garden, but remember to keep it somewhat simple, not garish. Make sure it works within the confines of your garden space. Include the outlines of trees, shrubs, and hedges when looking with a critical eye at your garden architecture.

While I'm certainly not going to advocate filling your lawn with cement geese or cutouts of little boys urinating, I can make a few suggestions for ornamentation:

Gargoyles

The obvious choice. Of course, I should call them grotesques rather gargoyles, since most I've seen don't function as waterspouts (but who's going to be that picky?). Make sure to get them made of an outdoor resin (pricey) or concrete (cheap). The one that is easiest to find is the winged dog, but many places offer others such as the gnawing or spitting gargoyles or dragons. Griffins and lions also make excellent garden pieces. Design Toscano is expensive, but has the best selection I've seen. There are also several places on the web now which sell outdoor statuary.

Gazing Globes

I admit, when one of these red or blue colored globes is sitting on a birdbath pedestal in the middle of the front lawn of a trailer, it looks like nothing more than a huge christmas ornament. However, these globes were beloved of the Victorians, who found two uses for them. The first involved spying on, or rather, discreetly chaperoning young couples strolling in the garden to make sure there they weren't doing anything naughty. The second use was a bit more superstitious-- they were supposed to scare off witches, since witches would be horrified by their reflection. A plain silver or deep burgundy globe could be tucked into a corner of the garden.

Garden Saints

Several saints belong in the garden. St. Fiacre, a 7th century Irishman, is one of the patron saints of gardens (and for some reason, also of taxicabs and relief from hemorrhoids). He became a hermit in France, healing the sick. He was visited by so many people that he asked the Bishop for more land; he was given as much land as he could clear with his spade in one day. A host of angels came down from heaven and helped him, and in commemoration of the miracle, he became the patron saint of gardeners. Most statues of St. Fiacre are done in the true gothic style. St. Phocas is the other patron saint of gardeners, and lived in the 3rd century. He dug his own grave in his garden when the lictors came to kill him because he was a Christian. St. Francis of Assisi is also appropriate for the garden, since is a protector of animals. St. Isadore is the patron saint of farmers. St. Dorothy is associated with flowers.

Green Man

The Green Man is the male principle of fertility, symbolizing renewal and resurrection, and is considered good luck in the garden. His leafy image represents the guardian of the forest and all green, growing things. Sometimes the foliage of his face is sculpted accurately enough to identify the species of the plant.

Topiary

Plants as sculpture! Many evergreen shrubs can be selectively trimmed so that they are shaped into the desired form--just don't go Disney. Also, evergreen vines such as ivy can be grown along wire frames to make interesting shapes. Hmmm....perhaps a nice bat?

There are many more options for decorations. Wrought iron furniture, or perhaps even a wrought iron gazebo, classical statues, heliochronometers (the vaguely globe-like sundials), gothic stepping stones....

Showy Winter Plants

With so little green about, many plants offer interest from their bark or shoots or berries, and a few still offer beautiful foliage.

Willow

A few willow species have lovely color during the winter. Salix alba 'Britzensis' has brilliant orange red shoots. This works best if planted as a group, so there are many of these red twiggy shoots together. S. daphnoides has deep purple-plum bark, which would look nice against a light background.

Dogwood

Similar to S. alba, Cornus alba has two varieties which put forth brilliant colored shoots during winter. 'Sibirica' has intense crimson stems, and 'Kesselringii' has deep purple-black shoots.

Whitebark Birches

There are many Betula species with the striking white bark that make these popular. The Himalayan birch, B. utilis jacquemontii is probably the whitest, with even the smallest branch being milky white. The native north american paper birch, B. papgrifera, is more cream colored.

Moosewood

A native north american snakeskin maple, Acer pensylvanicum has jade green bark striped with silver and white. The smallest branches are green, slightly larger ones are reddish brown, and then the largest branches and the trunk have the snakeskin pattern.

Silk Tassel Bush

Garrya elliptica is an evergreen shrub that forms silvery jade green catkins in winter. Male plants have larger catkins than the females.

Holly

There are many Ilex species, and these are thought of as a traditional winter plants. One intriguing female variety is I. aquifolium 'Perry's Silver Weeping', which has leaves edged in silver and a "weeping" habit.

Skimmia

Skimmia japonica has bright red berries all winter, which the birds won't eat, and the variety 'Rubella' will form pink flower buds in winter.

False Castor-oil Plant

Fatsia japonica has white flowers late in autumn, which may last into winter, but in late winter form clusters of black berries.

Italian Arums

The Arum italicum varieties have lovely marbled leaves which appear in late autumn and last all winter, and early in winter they are complemented by spikes of bright orange-red fruits.

Bergenia

These are semi-evergreen plants with leathery leaves. Bergenia cordifolia 'Purpurea' has leaves which turn magenta in winter, and B. purpurascens has dark reddish leaves.

There are also the "contorted" trees, such as Harry Lauder's Walking Stick, which are so gnarled that their leafless branches are an intriguing shape in the winter garden.

Winter Flowers

Nature is resourceful, and even during the cold, bleak days of winter, some plants give forth blooms. Unlike the blooms of summer, these tend to be smaller, less showy, and nodding, to protect them from the elements. This list is by no means exhaustive.

Hellebores

These are very popular winter bloomers. Hellebore atrorubrens blooms mid winter with dark maroon flowers, and at the same time, the Christmas Rose, H. niger, has whitish blooms. Late in winter the Lenten Rose, H. orientalis, blooms, with colors from creamy white to darkest plum.

Winter Aconite

Eranthis hyemalis has late winter yellow blooms.

Crocus

There are many crocus species which bloom late in winter. Crocus chrysanthus 'Lady Killer' has white a purple-blue pointed petals. C. tomasinianus 'Ruby Giant' has deep red-purple flowers.

Snowdrops

All the Galanthus species have white flowers. A legend from Germany says the snowdrop gave its color to the snow after all of the other flowers refused to share their color. So the snow shelters the flower and keeps it warm through the winter.

Winter Heath

There are many varieties of Erica carnea that bloom throughout the winter, and many also have lovely plum or bronze colored foliage.

Algerian Iris

Iris unguicularis has smallish lilac blooms throughout winter.

Winter Sweet

Chimonathus praecox is a large shrub which flowers in mid winter. The flowers have a grayish tint, and the petals are transparent.

Winter Honeysuckle

Lonicera standishii blooms early in winter, L. fragrantissima blooms late. The flowers are creamy white.

Witch Hazel

A few Hamamelis species flower mid winter. H. japonica has twisty yellow flowers. H. x intermedia 'Jelena' has yellow flowers which are tinted coppery-red. Witch hazel rods have been used for water divining.

Daphne

Daphne mezereum is a deciduous shrub which has rosy purple flowers on leafless branches in late winter. D. odora has glossy leaves and red-purple flowers in mid winter.

Winter Jasmine

Jasminum nudiflorum has bright yellow flowers all winter.

Viburnum

The viburnums have clusters of flowers on leafless branches throughout the winter. Viburnum farreri is white; V. x bodnantense has pink flowers.

There are many books written exclusively for winter (and for autumn) gardening, and many garden planning books will have a special section for winter plants. The winter has been a season long neglected by gardeners, but definitely offers many possibilities.