Publications

RHS Journals

The Garden
April 2005

Life imitating art

Exciting containers inspired by works of art can make a statement in any garden needing something out of the ordinary. Clare Foggett browses a gallery of six innovatively derivative creations

Gardeners can look to many sources when seeking creative inspiration: other gardens, the surrounding landscape or lavish illustrations in books and gardening magazines. But sometimes great fun can be had in creating something strikingly different and daring, and a container offers the chance to let your imagination run wild. Easily moved to transform different parts of the garden at different times, and comparatively short-lived, a container is ideal for experimenting and trying plants in combinations you would not normally put together. Given unusual inspiration, the effects can be colourful and dramatic. Last year The Garden challenged six gardeners to produce containers taking artists and their paintings as inspiration. The results are certainly striking, from the lush tropical feel inspired by Rousseau’s jungle scenes to the surrealism of Dali’s strange landscapes. All clearly show that, with a little imagination, any garden can have its own work of art.

Clare Foggett is Trainee Horticultural Journalist for The Garden

Nigel Colborn, member of RHS Council

'I chose Mondrian as my inspiration for the container, emulating his style in general rather than a particular painting, but I vividly recall his Broadway Boogie Woogie (1942-3). Mondrian’s symmetry and the way he painted landscapes as schematic rectangles has always appealed to me - it is his Dutchness, I suppose. I tried to capture a bit of this style, making strict rectangles with the plants. Because of this I had to use flat plants that could easily be crammed into squares, hence the number of different sempervivums. I used other plants to relieve the flatness, including Campanula cochlearifolia var. alba, Trifolium repens ‘Harlequin’ and Festuca glauca ‘Blaufuchs’.

‘The container itself was part of the effect - a flat, galvanised tank that in part inspired me - and its position on the rectangular slabs of our terrace. It didn’t fit in with the rest of the garden though: ours is a cottage-type garden, although I do allow a little artistry to creep in here and there.

‘Maintaining it was straightforward, but if I did it again I would paint the dividing strips of wood as they quickly disfigured in the damp. This really was a transient work of art; the container looked great during summer, but I have my doubts about its longevity.

‘Next time, I think I’d like to create a piece of all-Mondrian carpet bedding, with clippable herby things.’

Ian Hodgson, Editor of The Garden

‘After trying to decide between Miró and Dali, I created two containers using both artists as inspiration. I’ve had a long fascination with Dali’s surreal imagination, but I also love Miró’s colours and shapes, the earthiness of the tones he used and the colours that burst through his stark linework. The challenge was taking these artists’ ideas and interpreting them with plants.

‘To re-create Dali’s hot, dry deserts, I used plants sparingly against a coloured-sand background, using only Epiphyllum crenatum, Orostachys thyrsiflora, Aeonium ‘Zwartkop’ and the ripe fruit from Passiflora caerulea. A shallow galvanised conical basin didn’t detract from the landscape above. This container would be ideal for a sunny, dry conservatory; once set up, it needed little maintenance, as it was made up of inanimate objects and slow-growing succulents. Longer-term, occasional watering and dusting is all it would need.

‘The Miró container featured Dahlia ‘Ragged Robin’, which provided intense red colour, together with Uncinia uncinata rubra (New Zealand hook sedge) and Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’ to give the centre of the container structure. On one side Acmella oleracea (Brazilian cress), with its flowers like eyeballs on stalks, spilled over the edge.

‘I made the sculptures from Perspex and wire, and painted them with glass paint so light shone through in glowing colours. I chose a dark, earthy and slightly metallic pot to resonate with the brown sedges.

‘The container was definitely garden-worthy. I designed it to be summer and autumn flowering, hence the use of dahlias, and it lasted from high summer right through to October. Apart from the summer-flowering dahlias, all of the other elements provide year-round interest, so it would be easy to substitute the dahlias for other red-flowering plants and extend the container’s interest throughout the year.’

Graham Strong, horticultural writer

‘My container is based on Rousseau’s jungle scenes. The two lions and exotic bird appear in his 1910 work The Dream. I love the way Rousseau layered vegetation from the jungle floor to the canopy, and his contrasts of form, colour and texture. The exuberant plants in his paintings are stylised and naively drawn, so it is hard to identify the actual plants he painted, but to re-create his jungle I used a rich blend of architectural leaves and exotic blooms. These included Begonia ‘Burle Marx’, Impatiens auricoma ‘Jungle Gold’, bold Canna ‘Striata’ and C. indica ‘Purpurea’, Colocasia affinis var. jeningsii, Haworthia attenuata and a variegated selection of Neoregelia carolinae.

‘To reinforce the jungle feel I used a natural reed screen as a backdrop and a weathered willow basket, surrounded by brown-leaved sedges, blue leaved fescues, darmera and fern fronds that came right up to the basket.

‘The container would provide interest all summer, particularly if given a position out of the hottest sun and sheltered from buffeting winds. Best viewed in isolation from the rest of the garden, it would sit well in the corner of a patio or courtyard, especially if sited to associate with running water.

‘To develop the theme further it would be fun to include Rousseau’s voluptuous nude pictured in The Dream reclining on a couch, and build on the surreal qualities of the work.’

David Jewell and Tom Brown, RHS Garden Wisley

‘Like Graham, we were inspired by Rousseau. His paintings are full of interesting foliage and fruits, with strong colours creating effective contrasts. The abundance and luxuriance of the planting he depicts on canvas is easily interpreted into artistic gardening. We tried to capture the essence of his Combat of a Tiger and a Buffalo (1909), in particular the blues, oranges and yellows he used, and the exotic foliage. You could copy the painting quite literally, but if you can be inspired by it, use your own style and think laterally, so much the better.

‘We chose a selection of mostly tender plants to echo Rousseau’s jungle scene: Howea forsteriana with its delicate palm leaves, citrus, Ficus, Gerbera hybrids for splashes of orange, Calathea crocata with its stripy leaves, Tradescantia and Asparagus densiflorus Sprengeri Group (asparagus fern). Arundo donax added a strong vertical accent and wispy Helianthus salicifolius also injected height and texture to the planting.

Subtropical jungle

‘It would be easy to expand the subtropical flavour using different foliage shapes and forms, such as cannas with their strong flower colours, strelitzias, Equisetum, Punica granatum (pomegranate) for its bright orange-red flowers, Miscanthus sinensis ‘Strictus’ or Telopea, a spectacular plant from the Tasmanian bush - the painting inspires a near-endless list of plants.

‘It was definitely a garden-worthy container; kept outdoors in a warm, sheltered location it would make a talking point on a contemporary patio throughout summer. Maintenance was straightforward too: a light trim occasionally made sure the plants didn’t smother one another, and deadheading was required to keep the display going as long as possible, along with a regular balanced feed.

‘We’re tempted to try again next summer, with more fruit, more exotics and even more foliage. This container was a little too green, so we’d like to achieve stronger colour contrasts, or we might try re-creating a Vincent van Gogh…’

Simon Garbutt, freelance garden writer and photographer

‘I took as my inspiration Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations for Oscar Wilde’s Salome (1894). I love his flat, asymmetric compositions of decorative elements against a blank background and his use of black and white. Dense planting features in many of his evocative illustrations.

Monochrome planting

‘To emulate Beardsley’s use of black and white I chose the blackest foliage possible, Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’, and also Pennisetum glaucum ‘Purple Majesty’, which has upright seedheads of a good dark colour. Arundo donax var. versicolor, with its bright stripy variegation on elegant foliage, provided a good accent against darker leaves. I also used Osteospermum ‘Silver Sparkler’, Salvia discolor with its wonderful white-felted stems and undersides to dark green leaves, Lamium maculatum ‘White Nancy’, Trifolium repens ‘Purpurascens Quadrifolium’, Sambucus nigra f. porphyrophylla ‘Eva’ (often sold as ‘Black Lace’) and various violas. Dark-leaved cannas didn’t flower, unfortunately, but their curved leaves echoed the shape of dresses in Beardsley’s work, as did the exotic spathes of Zantedeschia ‘Schwarzwalder’. The stiff, sword-like leaves of Gladiolus murielae were important, as was the ferny foliage of Dahlia ‘Bednall Beauty’ and the dark purple leaves of Oxalis triangularis ‘Cupido’.

Fin-de-siècle elegance

‘The container lasted surprisingly well, although many plants didn’t flower to plan, perhaps due to a lack of sun, but the contrasts of foliage texture and colour were still interesting. The flat-sided grey container was part of the effect. I considered painting it black or white, but thought it would probably be too startling. It didn’t fit in with the rest of the garden, but then it wasn’t meant to. Ideally, I would have positioned it in splendid isolation against a white wall.

‘Maintenance was pretty straightforward, except I couldn’t persuade it to flower as much as I wanted, despite fertiliser and frequent deadheading - I blame the cool, sunless, wet summer.’

< Back to The Garden contents page