DESIGN WITH ME - TRANSLATE TO ORNAMENTATION

The next part of step four in our theme garden design process is choosing all the pretty extras!  First a quick review of the five steps:

1. Pick a theme 
2. Brainstorm
3. Research 
4. Translate ideas to physical form (yes, we're still here!)
5. Create the plan

ORNAMENTATION
Garden ornament is the frosting on the cake.

These are the details that make your space extra-special like lighting, containers, art, 
mirrors, banners, and fountains.

Please, please keep it simple.  Choose one or two special ornaments so that the final result is focused.  Too many items will make your space chaotic and ultimately uncomfortable. 

As with the other steps, take a look at our brainstorming and research lists to see if anything might inspire a fabulous selection of garden ornament.  This is what popped into my head:

Yes, it seems that I can make heavy metal "cute", though that is not my intent (I just can't control myself). I'm sure you can come up with many more ideas, but hopefully this shows you a good start.  I do want to stress again that's it's important to keep it simple.  You may have tons of ideas, but focus on the ones that best illustrate your theme (and are within your budget).

We are finally approaching the last part of step four....choosing plant materials!  This will take me a few days, but if you have any ideas for plants to get started, I'd love to hear them!

SWEET SPRING PLANTINGS

I thought it would be fun to share a few spring plant combinations over the next three posts.

Three things inspired me:

SIMPLICITY: Sometimes we struggle with pairing plants, so I wanted to take a step back and just focus on three plants in each combination.

TASTY TREATS: It's so much fun picking a theme to narrow down plant choices.  There are many plants with delectable names, so why not try some?

AJUGA: This is a common, yet still fabulous groundcover.  It's easy to find, performs well in shade and sun, plus looks great with many other plants.  I chose a different ajuga for each of my three designs, then allowed that plant to direct the choice of its companions.

This planting is for full sun or part-shade in zones 4 and 5.  The plants in this design include:

Ajuga reptans 'Valfredda' / Chocolate Chip Bugleweed
Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'/ Stonecrop
Geum 'Totally Tangerine' / Avens

What I like most about this combination:

• The striking color contrast between the purplish/green ajuga and the chartreuse sedum.
• The contrast of leaf textures...coarse geum leaves, medium ajuga leaves, and the fine sedum leaves.
• The pop of orange from the geum flowers (this plant always pops!).

For those wanting to learn more about plants on your own adventures...sign up for my NEWSLETTER to receive a free garden journaling sheet.