GWI NIMG

I love this rectangular water feature, but will never have one like it in my curvilinear space. The photo is from Helen Dillon's garden.

I am using a very strict interpretation. As I understand it, Kim asks us to list plants or features that we would not have in our own gardens though we might admire them in the gardens of others. Therefore, I want to make it clear that I have no problem with any of the things I am listing here; some of them I really like a lot. I just wouldn’t, or couldn't, for various reasons, have them in my back yard.

1. Vegetables. I don’t grow them as I haven’t the space to spare for them. However, I do try to support local farmers by buying their produce (rather than imported supermarket stuff) whenever I can.

2. Grasses. I love these, but I don’t have the open, sunny area I feel is their best placement. They’d be great for my front yard if it wasn’t completely shady in the summer.

3. Birdbath. Don’t need it as they are happy to use the waterfall and the fountain.

4. Grass. I’m not kidding; a lush, green lawn can be beautiful, especially on large properties (think Jane Austen). It’s not the plant’s fault; it’s what we do to maintain it. In any case, I don’t have a blade of it; there’s no space and the terroir is all wrong.

5. Large stand of monarda—same reason as the grass. I suppose there is a long list of plants that need lots of sun and open space, but I’ve actually started to use many of them in my former rose bed, so this NIMG is flexible. I would love delphinium, for example, but have failed with it too often.

6. Neat, orderly beds, or geometric hardscaping such as that seen in Helen Dillon’s garden (above) and other formal gardens. I actually admire neatness, but I seem incapable of it. I also love a clean, minimal look, which I’ll never have.

I actually can’t think of too much else. If I like something I usually find a way to cram it in.