Mirrored Garden Displays

By Author: Florence Blum
Total Articles: 79
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Contrasts add excitement. I love seeing large plants in juxtaposition with small ones. Contrasting sizes, mixed together, invite the eye to inspect. But lately I have been playfully mirroring my large-scale gardens with miniature garden displays using the same plants, in reduced form.

In one garden bed, I have a border of large Elegans Hostas. Here, I have let them expand to the point of becoming supersized. Each Hosta has plumped to fill its allotted space—or, if truth be told, has overstepped its bounds. This works, but it takes up space.

In filling a nearby area of much less space, I wanted to stay true to the spirit of that already-thriving garden. What to do? Blue Mouse Ears Hosta became my answer to taking what was already part of my garden’s “look” and re-creating it in miniature garden form.

The diminutive Blue Mouse Ears Hostas remind me of my large blue-green Hostas while growing on a manageable scale. The giant leaves of my larger Hostas become chewed by insects I cannot name. But this miniature garden gem has shown few signs of wear as summer progresses.

As an accompaniment, Mini ...
... Skirt, a slow-growing mini Hosta with variegated leaves like some of the big guys in my larger display, sends up a spike of lavender flowers. These flowers seem to last longer than do those of larger counterparts. And polite… even flirty Mini Skirt shows self-restraint. Staying petite, it alternates with my favorite Blue Mouse Ears in the miniature garden, mirroring the scheme in the large-scale garden I also love.

Visitors think they are seeing things when their eyes turn from the large display—giant mounds of solid and variegated leaves—to the miniature garden plantings fitting tidily where they are situated. As if viewed through a magnifying glass and then from a distance, these two distinct gardens—one large and one duplicated in miniature garden form—work together to provide continuity.

I have begun to consider using this mirroring technique with Butterfly Bushes. Last year I was gifted with a large Butterfly Bush. It has taken off between two sizable shrub Roses. I would not dream of reducing the size of this plant which has grown wildly. Its conical clusters of the tiniest flowers—purple, with bluish undertones—are doing their job of drawing in Monarchs and Swallowtails. But accommodate another? No space.

Elsewhere, in a sunny miniature garden bed, I have introduced two dwarf Butterfly Bushes. With just one summer’s growth where they are planted, I now see their familiar blooms on stems a mere fraction of those of the large plant. These have me thinking about how to mirror my large Buddleia and Rose display in the nearby miniature garden. I will find dwarf magenta Roses to surround a small Butterfly Bush. Pugster Blue® will fill the bill here, with its blooms of coveted near-blue. Like the two dwarf Butterfly Bushes already planted, I have no doubt it, too, will bloom readily while remaining compact. It will turn a space where I aim to continue the same scheme of form and color that exists in the larger garden into a mirrored, but reduced, miniature garden display.

Pugster Blue® will need time to get its roots comfortable in new soil. But I still have time—more late-summer warmth to get this small plant settled into the miniature garden. With good sun and watering, it will be in full bloom next summer.

These mirrored displays make me happy. Other gardeners are sure to find this idea playful, fun, and sensible when space is at a premium… or even when it is plentiful.

Miniature Gardening offers a variety of accessories, fairies, garden tools & dollhouse furniture to create enchanting miniature landscapes for winter container plants or your yard. Story telling and imaginary fairy garden plants from 'Miniature Gardening' bring the playful kid out in all of us. Filled with intrigue and mystique each little miniature garden scene you create is a snapshot of such a dream.