What is decoration? The dictionary says it is something that is added to something else to make it more attractive. As awkward as this might sound, I think this sums it up rather well. It is indeed a certain special and personal something added to an ordinary something. Others say it is the act of adorning, embellishing or honoring. A one word description of decoration might be ornamentation. All manner of living creatures decorate their home, nest or self with the idea of attracting a potential mate. From the most simple to the most sophisticated level, people decorate. Many decorate their homes for specific holidays. Bakers decorate cakes based on an expression for special occasion. Some people hang bunting in celebration of the 4th of July. Some fashion houses embroider over a selected fabric, for beauty’s sake. Those of us who wear glasses welcome the opportunity to wear a beautiful pair of glasses. Everyone decorates the place where they live to make is more personal and pleasing. That decoration may take the form of paint, furniture, flooring, art, hardware, rugs-the list of decorative elements from which to choose is long. Anyone who wishes to decorate has not only hundreds of years of precedence, but also an astonishing range of choices.
Where am I going with this? Gardeners plant trees, shrubs and perennials. They dig beds, and plant. We all plant for different reasons. Some need a place to sit in the shade. Others like to grow vegetables. Some plant in a way friendly to their kids, or their age. Others favor a landscape that is friendly to company. But no doubt a good bit of planting that gardeners do has to do with an expression of beauty. Decorating a container with plants is a satisfying way to celebrate the season.
The meaning of beauty is far too wide a topic for me to address. I find it tough to write about what constitutes beauty, as everyone’s opinion is different. Maybe the best part of beauty is the process by which people create it. Most gardeners have an idea of what constitutes beauty in the garden, and they plant towards that. Gardens of great age are gardens that have evolved, as nothing in a garden ever stands still. Any planting needs to be appropriate to the location and the existing conditions. That is a given. But what lies beyond the given?
A beautiful celebration of the fall season is enchanting. Anyone who chooses to plant their containers for fall have months of beauty ahead of them. The opportunity for creating beauty exists in all of our gardening seasons. Planting containers for fall comes just in time to let go of the waning summer plants.
I am a big fan of the ornamental cabbage and kale for fall containers. They tolerate the late summer and early fall heat, and they endure the coming of the cold. Cool weather initiates a brilliant coloration in the leaves. The kale pictured above will eventually sport leaves of turquoise, purple and cerise pink. I have had ornamental cabbage and kale looking great in to January. Our crop this year is exceptional.
Container plantings are quite unlike garden and landscape installations. They express the beauty of the moment.
cabbage “Rosebud”
cabbage, kale and broomcorn
Redbor kale
welcome to fall.
