How to Plant a Whimsical Garden

The use of statuary with old-fashioned plants creates a whimsical garden.

The term "whimsical" is defined as lightly fanciful or playfully quaint, especially in an amusing way. Given this definition, a whimsical garden may include old-fashioned or nostalgic items, fantasy themes or any range of interesting and unusual plants and objects. When you plan a whimsical garden, choose a theme that suits your or your family's definition of whimsical. You can restrict the garden to contain only plants, or you can mix in a variety of decor items like sculptures and wind chimes. Antique and thrift shops are the ideal places to shop for whimsical garden decor.

Instructions

1. Select a variety of old-fashioned flowers or plants that you consider delightful; perhaps there are flowers that evoke happy childhood memories. Examples of flowers you might use include roses, daisies, sunflowers, buttercups, wisteria, iris, honeysuckle, lilies, phlox, hollyhocks and forget-me-nots.

2. Plant the old-fashioned flowers in beds around the house or throughout the landscape. The flowers can be arranged in the beds however you like, but it generally looks best to plant taller flowers in the rear of a flowerbed.

3. Gather a variety of plants associated with fantasy, such as plants included in fairy tales, folklore or even Shakespeare. The possibilities are endless, but you might consider bluebells, daffodils, roses, violets, cowslip, foxglove, pansies, lilac, ferns, peonies and fairy wands.

4. Plant a patch of each type of fantasy-related plant or incorporate them all in one large flowerbed.

5. Put up a trellis, if desired, to support climbing plants like ivy, clematis and wisteria.

6. Plant an herb garden with a variety of whimsical herbs, which may simply be old-fashioned or have roots in fantasy stories. Herbs to plant include foxglove, lavender, rosemary, thyme, sage and dill, but you can plant any herb that you use for cooking.

7. Plant fruit trees and bushes throughout the landscape. Apples, blackberries, figs, peaches and pears might be considered whimsical fruits.

8. Include some whimsical trees, such as ash, apple, birch, dogwood, elder and holly, to complete the garden planting.

9. Hang wind chimes from shepherd's hooks throughout your garden beds. Alternatively, you can hang them from trees or on your porch.

10. Place whimsical garden sculptures among the whimsical flowers and plants; you could have a collection of garden gnomes, flying pigs, toadstools, deer, flamingos, faeries or any other sculpture that appeals to you. Sculptures might be made of concrete, resin, bronze, grapevines or wood.

Tips & Warnings

• Pick from among the suggested steps above or choose entirely different plant suggestions, if desired.

References

• The Fragrant Garden: Old-Fashioned Plants
• Whispering Worlds: Fairy Plants A to Z