The Chaos Garden

I'd like to elaborate a bit on the idea of 'chaos gardening'.  I'm sure you've heard of the Chelsea Flower Show, held in London England every May.  It's sponsored by the Royal Horticultural Society, and it's the biggest, most influential garden show in the world.  Trends that emerge from Chelsea become an influence on gardening styles everywhere.  We attended the event in 2011.

To make a long story short, as one writer put it last year:

 “Chaos gardening was one of the biggest garden trends to come out of last year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and experts predict that it’s going to be an even bigger deal through 2024 and beyond.”

It's been variously described as 'ignoring all the rules', 'horticulture with mad abandon', or 'throwing conventional norms to the wind'.  Chaos gardening, as it was described at Chelsea, is: "a move away from classical formal layouts to more naturalistic landscapes".  It mixes flowers and veggies, it enhances biodiversity and is a sanctuary for wildlife.  

So admittedly, chaos gardening is 'a whiff of rebellion against the control and neatness of traditional horticulture'.  But lest you think that describing her garden as 'chaos' means it's simply a mess, in fact Mrs. F.G. is several years ahead of the curve with a thoroughly up-to-date garden!  Even I am impressed!

Let me give you a few examples.

Columbine allowed to self-seed wherever it chooses.

Milkweed allowed to stay because it attracts the Monarch butterflies.

A huge Mullein allowed to stay simply because we enjoy it.

A mixture of tomatoes, petunias, and basil planted together.

And of course the wildlife some of it not altogether welcome!