Variations on a Theme Garden: Creative Ways to Jazz Up Your Yard

Nonplussed by your perfectly predictable petunias and pansies? Impatient with your impatiens' need for contstant love and affection (and water)? Desperate to dig in the dirt but lacking horticultural harmony? Maybe a theme garden is just what you need to spice up your love affair with plants.

According to Jackie Riffice, a master gardener and founder of Prairie Godmothers who spoke at on Thursday night, a theme garden's greatest benefit might lie in its power to unleash a creative plant passion and become a reflection of yourself.

Riffice explained that theme gardens rely on native plants and perennials, interspersed with annuals, to provide four seasons of color. They also use weather and climate to their advantage while providing a year-round home for living creatures that become part of the garden's circle of life.

Although the most well-known theme garden in the United States is the Rose Garden at the White House, the average Frankfort gardener can create one, too. All you need is a common thread to connect the plants you choose, whether that's a color, a family member, a book, a hobby or a trip.

Riffice described a variation of an alphabet garden that she planted for her children when they were little. She used plants that started with the letters  in her children's first names. Her daughter Mack's garden was planted with monarda, anise hyssop, clematis and knautia. Her son Connor's featured catmint, obedient plant, narcissus, nepater, opuntia and rosemary.

If the light of the moon provides inspiration, Riffice suggested planting a path of lunar loveliness with late blooming or naturally luminous plants like moonflower, shasta daisy, evening primrose and dusty miller.

Bursting with blocks of colorful, nectar-producing flowers, along with leafy plants for larvae food, a butterfly and hummingbird garden will fill your yard with a rainbow of living creatures. This theme garden might include prairie coreopsis, New England aster, milkweed, monarda, liatris and great blue lobelia.

If great literature gives you great joy, take a walk back through your favorite author's books and find horticultural references. William Shakespeare routinely mentioned herbs and plants throughout his writing, and many theme gardens have been planted in his honor, featuring plants like oregano, thyme, sage, fennel, hyssop, rosemary, calendula and mint. A small, Chicago-area example of this theme garden is found on the campus of Northwestern University, Riffice said.

No matter what personal interest drives your theme, Riffice said that Prairie Godmothers encourages gardeners to create smart gardens, too. These gardens conserve water, enrich the soil and provide a habitat for birds, butterflies, bees and desirable bugs. From amending the soil with shredded newspaper or compost to using water collected from rain barrels to keep soil moist, Riffice and her network of Prairie Godmothers believe that gardeners can work together to protect the planet, a garden at a time.

Smart Theme Garden Advice

To encourage people to take the first step in smart theme gardening, Riffice has two tips:

1. Start small. Choose three plants for the first year. See how they do and adjust or add accordingly.
2. Be brave and just try it. "My garden's theme is mistakes and apologies," Riffice said, chuckling.

Prairie Godmothers provides a variety of gardening services including consulting, companion gardening and garden coaching. For more information contact Riffice at info@prairiegodmothers.com or 708-205-5126.