Garden Whimsy

This month's Garden Design Workshop being hosted by the Gardening Gone Wild clan is one of my favorite topics to hate on, Garden Whimsy.

I fully admit that I'm a snob but I really don't like most garden whimsy.  I find the vast majority of it to be extremely corny (especially the kitchy kind).  But last year after I attended my first garden walk, I was bitten by the whimsy bug when I realized that I felt much more comfortable in the gardens that had it than those that didn't.  I realized that, in addition to sitting around being cute, whimsy in a garden draws you in for a closer look. 

You can tell a whole lot about a gardener by paying attention to their whimsy.  Here's mine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you had to judge me by my whimsy, what kind of person would you think I am? 

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Garden deco

I have to say that, when I first started gardening (less than 2 months ago) I really did not favor garden art. I thought it was, hmmmmmm how can I say this......CORNY! I realize I'm the minority here and truth be told I have a very long list of perfectly normal things that I find exceptionally corny like ivy in kitchens, "save something or somebody" email forwards and almost all chain emails that are suppose to be heart warming.

To me, garden art was one of those things that you mostly think "why the hell did they put that here?" But then I went on that garden walk. The gardens with the garden art seemed much more welcoming. I think when you place something deep in a garden in the midst of the flowers it begs people to come closer and investigate and that screams "I'm not uptight!" Conversely, those gardens with no corny garden deco felt like I should walk like a soldier, hands by my sides and they may as well have had signs all over that said YOU BREAK IT YOU BUY IT or DO NOT TOUCH!

I'm not a formal person. I love the kind of house you walk into and just never want to leave because you feel so comfortable. My furniture is big and soft and durable and the style I'm going for is "wow this is so cozy." That's how I want my garden to feel someday. That's why I love cottage gardens.

I bought this Buddha last weekend. It reminds me of a Buddha print my good friend E gave me for my desk at work. We put the print in a very corny frame and we'd rub it when we were trying to conjure up something special like workplace peace or a new job.

The color of this Buddha is pretty uneven and in some places it almost looks like the paint accidentally ran down it's face while the artist looked away, but I like that. I didn't pay a lot for this thing which is good because I wasn't even sure it would get to stay. Right now it is sitting by the Silver Mound. I'm hoping when the SM grows and fills in this area, it will look extremely cool. I'm also planning to add a few other pieces of garden art eventually. I doubt you will ever see things like ducks or frogs or dogs or cats in my garden, but I do admire a unique looking fairies and garden gnomes and things of that nature. Oh, and flowers, I'll have lots and lots of beautiful flowers, someday.