The Quixotic Garden

By Susanne Talbert (art_n_garden)
January 5, 2009

I’ve been contemplating themed gardens in lieu of my random mish-mash of plants recently. Generally, if I like a plant I’ll buy it, whether or not I have a place for it and it definitely never crosses my mind if the plant would look good in my existing landscape.

This practice has led to some very odd combinations like castor beans paired with irises and rue.  Even I didn't really get that one.  Or then there's the chives, hardy banana, and daylily corner of my perennial bed.  This combination, besides looking comical, creates a tactical problem for care and watering regimens.

So to prevent my eclectic taste from getting the better of me next year, I'm going to make some plans.  My plans will still allow me to be random and choose plants for my assorted taste, but maybe I can hone into the gardens of my mind's eye.

Since I can't narrow my taste down to one type of plant like iris or daylily, and I can't really even narrow it down to something as broad as tropical or cottage, I'm going to have to find a broader brush with which to paint my predilection.   If any of this sounds familiar to you, maybe some of my ideas could be of interest to you.     

The Quixotic Garden

If you're not familiar with the word quixotic it is a wonderful word to add to your lexicon.  Pronounced kwik-ˈsä-tik, it is derived from the fanciful character Don Quixote from Cervantes' classic novel.  It can mean idealistic, impulsive, and obsessed with the romantic all at once; foolishly impractical ⁽¹⁾.  If that doesn't describe most gardeners to some extent, I don't know what word can.

The Quixotic Garden would be a place where my castor beans and rue could harmoniously compliment the other odd plants I am drawn to.  This will be a garden, read "one specific place," where I can put all the weird plants I pick up.   Obviously your Quixotic Garden could be different, but here's what mine would, could, and very well might look like. 

From left to right, top to bottom: ornamental oregano, spider-flowered daylily 'Aabachee', nasturtium 'Alaska',  Justicia carnea Brazilian plume flower, castor bean, Martagon lily, peacock lily, Scots moss, voodoo lily Dracunculus vulgaris, fennel, northern sea oats, iris 'Pass the Wine,' Stokes aster, rue, exotic love vine, hardy banana Musa basjoo. And below: strawberry foxglove, citronella plant, blood lily, and snapdragon . 

The Quixotic Garden is not about having the weirdest plants out there, although the voodoo lily would probably qualify for that list, it is about making room for every plant that makes your heart happy.  Throw out conventional thinking and put in the plants that you want.  There is no size requirement and definitely no color scheme besides any color goes.  Mix your herbs and your veggies in with your perennials.  Mix tropicals with alpines and summer bulbs with cottage garden standards.  Be a little wary of sun and water requirements, though, since you can't really be "foolishly impractical" if your plants are frying.  Most every plant I am drawn to is for sun, so my plants for the Quixotic Garden thrive in full sun.  If I find a shade plant I want to use, I can tuck it in under the castor bean or the banana. 

Hopefully you can have some fun this winter dreaming about and planning your gardens.  If none of what's in your head jives with the conventional wisdom on gardening, don't fret.  There are other quixotical gardeners out there just like you. 

Special thanks to these contributors to the PlantFiles:

Fennel - Baa	Norther sea oats - Hczone6	Nemesia, Orostachys, Licorice Plant - art_n_garden
Voodoo Lily - cloudia	Money Plant - JerseyGardener1	Castor bean thumbnail - art_n_garden
Rue - Debby	Stokes aster - luvsgrtdanes	Jacobinia - jnana
Nasturtium - Emilyrasmus	Daylily - MartyJo	Castor bean - tcfromky
Martagon lily - Galanthophile	Foxglove - mn102	Cleome - Sarahskeeper
Ornamental Oregano - GardenGuyKin	Iris - Nakihee	Banana - Paolotakeru
Snapdragon - art_n_garden	Exotic love vine - art_n_garden	Acidanthera - art_n_garden
Citronella Plant- daryl	Blood lily - timrann	Scots Moss - art_n_garden

1. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quixotic 

About Susanne Talbert   I garden in beautiful Colorado Springs, half a mile from Garden of the Gods. Since we bought our first house two years ago, I have been busy revamping my 1/4 acre of ignored decomposed granite. My garden passions include water gardening, vines, super-hardy perennials, and native xerics. By day, I am a high school ceramics teacher as well as a ceramicist and painter.

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Discussion about this article:

Subject Topic Starter Replies Views Last Post Awesome gardenTress 0 8 Jan 12, 2009 1:13 PM Quioxtic Hmm SingingWolf 0 10 Jan 7, 2009 10:14 PM Thank you dobra1629 0 8 Jan 6, 2009 2:50 AM Quixotic Desertdenial5 2 32 Jan 6, 2009 2:30 AM A name for my random-ness! JuneTex 0 14 Jan 6, 2009 2:16 AM Quixotical dahlianut 0 13 Jan 6, 2009 1:02 AM Kindred spirit bethhick 1 23 Jan 5, 2009 9:22 PM Have you been to my garden? LouC 0 26 Jan 5, 2009 7:48 PM Finally I have the right word kathy65468 0 16 Jan 5, 2009 5:45 PM

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