7 ways to give your summer garden a trendy makover
When people think of trends, they generally think of home decor, fashion and colors.
But Jonathan Pedersen, plant specialist for Monrovia, one of the nation’s largest nursery growers, says garden trends are equally big thanks in part to the explosion of global social media and sharing apps.
We asked experts to point out some of the hottest horticultural trends so far this year:
1. Milkweeds
Generally, native plants are not subject to the same trends as retail and ornamental plants. But for drought-conscious California gardeners, “Milkweeds are a big conversation,” says Mike Evans, president of San Juan Capistrano’s Tree of Life Nursery, which specializes in California natives.
A variety of milkweeds are available, but he suggests theCalifornia native Narrow Leaf Milkweed: It blooms May to October, grows up to 3 feet tall, does well in many types of soil and has pretty pink and white flowers. “Monarch butterflies will love you,” he adds.
2. Grab-and-go gardening
From the retail side, “grab-and-go gardening is bigger and bigger every year,” says Ron Vanderhoff, general manager of Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar. “This is especially noticeable in ready-made creative baskets, bowls, tubs, wall gardens, raised beds and so on. People want these ready-made.” He says gardeners simply bring them home (or have them delivered and even installed). This is “gardening” to a new generation of people, he says: “I equate it to the hot food section at the supermarket. Adding a little side dish or enhancing it just a bit is how people are eating. In many ways this is ‘cooking’ today, just as buying pre-made or custom-made containerized gardens is ‘gardening.’”
3. Agaves
Succulents, and especially agaves, show no signs of diminishing. The lovely, blueish Agave attenuata ‘Nova’ “has long been one of our top sellers” says Randy Baldwin, president of San Marcos Growers in Santa Barbara. It’s an attractive pale blue-green color which blends with just about anything. While the pale-green Fox-Tail Agave attenuata is still popular, and with a variety of variegated forms of Agave attenuata, but last year “in terms of dollar amount, Agave attenuata ‘Nova’ was on top” and will continue strong, says Baldwin.
4. Mix-and-match plantings
Don’t limit plantings to strictly native plants; a similar-climate plant palette can be denser and more exciting, suggests Sarah Weidner Astheimer, senior associate of James Corner Field Operations, a landscape architecture and urban design firm. For Santa Monica’s Tongva Park, the firm chose a sophisticated and striking mixed plant effect (succulents, grasses, shrubs, perennials, flowers) with plants from New Zealand, Australia, the Mediterranean region, South Africa, Chile and Mexico, along with California natives. “At first glance they might not traditionally go together, but we thought, why not?” says Astheimer. “They give the park tremendous texture, color, sophistication and flow.”
5. Edible gardening
Edible gardening — growing fruits, greens, veggies, nuts and beyond — shows no signs of letup and is even set to increase, says Renee Shepherd of Renee’s Garden, a popular seed packaging company. “Before the recession I would say we sold about 50% - 50% [edible sales to flower sales] and after it jumped to 70%” edible, and has held.
People want variety and choice, “which they don’t find in the market and also want to control how their food is grown and by whom,” she says. Try lettuce mixes if a beginner: They’re fast, easy and can be set out now in cool spring weather. Says Shepherd: “Start small, find something relatively fast-growing, choose what you like to eat and make sure to ask questions. Gardeners are generous and passionate people. It’s like learning any skill.”
6. Compact plants
Ever mindful of space-saving needs, gardeners want compact and dwarf versions of favorite plants in a more manageable form, says Monrovia’s Pedersen. And these newer plants “have supersized returns: larger and greater number of blooms with a tendency to bloom two or three times each year; intense fragrance or flavors; bi or tri-color flowers.” They’ll continue “to adapt to wild weather, smaller lots, changing lifestyles, and less free time by [being planted in] landscapes that are easier to care for,” he notes.
And it’s not just millennials and downsizing baby boomers pushing this trend. “For many years the U.S. had an economic boom that created suburban living, and space was not so much of an issue. Today space is at more of a premium and to create that backyard oasis away for the pressures of your day, plants play an important role in creating that atmosphere.”
7. ‘Granny gardens’
Nostalgia plants such as foxgloves, begonias, peonies, gardenias, camellias, hostas, sweet peas, alliums, marigolds, heavily fragranced rambling roses, Japanese anemones, hydrangeas, “even Pachysandra is cool again — and flying off nursery shelves even as interest in its polar-opposite plant group of succulents continue to zoom,” says Pedersen. He says fueling this trend is the continued edible gardening wave which adds old-fashioned flowers to food crops, “and lush locally grown bouquets of romantic florals that are popping up from Pinterest posts to TV weddings.”
