Stealing Ideas

By John Markowski

There are many instances when I feel like I never want to set foot in my garden again. When I spend too much of my time just focusing on my own garden, I lose my “mojo”. When that feeling hits, I do my best to get out and visit other gardens for a nice shot of inspiration.

In the following photos, I’ve included some gardening ideas I plan to steal—I mean, glean original ideas from. I find that when I visit a large public or private garden, my best strategy is to take as many photos as possible without editing myself. At a later date, I can then review the shots at a much slower pace and that is when the ideas come to life.

I love the idea of colored glass in a container. The potential glass/plant/container options are endless:

Flowers floating in a container, why didn’t I think of that?

 

This photo was taken at the New York Botanical Garden, and if you look closely, you’ll see a short blue spruce tucked in the front of the bed. To me, it pops and I’ve always struggled with how to incorporate blue foliage into the mix. The answer: Just try it already:

Note to self: Always plant perennials in large drifts:

 

Note to self 2.0: Plant more bulbs in large drifts; you will thank yourself in spring:

 

If you want to read more about my gardening adventures, click on the About link above to get to my blog.