A monochromatic garden is a

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

in which a single color is highlighted.

Single-color gardens

Such a garden is planted so that it overwhelms the observer with a single color. While this may seem a rather bland approach at first, such gardens were made popular by the work of famous garden designers such as Gertrude Jekyll and

Vita Sackville-West Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer. Sackville-West was a successful novelist, poet and journalist, as wel ...

. Sackville-West, for example, created what may have been one of the most famous single-color gardens, the White Garden

room In a building or large vehicle, like a ship, a room is any enclosed space within a number of walls to which entry is possible only via a door or other dividing structure that connects it to either a passageway, another room, or the outdoors, that ...

of the

Sissinghurst Castle Garden Sissinghurst Castle Garden, at Sissinghurst in the Weald of Kent in England, was created by Vita Sackville-West, poet and writer, and her husband Harold Nicolson, author and diplomat. It is among the most famous gardens in England and is design ...

Many single-color gardens use flowers of different shades, such as light yellow and deep gold, or a range that includes dark burgundy, bright scarlet, and also pink for a red garden. (An similar idea uses

analogous colors Analogous colors are groups of colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. Red, orange, and red-orange are examples. The term ''analogous'' refers to having analogy, or corresponding to something in particular. This color scheme str ...

, such as purple, red, and orange, rather than a single color.) Plants with colored leaves, such as silver leaves or plants with

variegated Variegation is the appearance of differently coloured zones in the leaves and sometimes the stems and fruit of plants. Species with variegated individuals are sometimes found in the understory of tropical rainforests, and this habitat is the s ...

foliage for a white garden, might also be included. The color for a monochromatic garden may be chosen for any reason, including to fit a small garden, as part of a clean, contemporary design, or to highlight a

favorite color In the psychology of color, color preferences are the tendency for an individual or a group to prefer some colors over others, such as having a favorite color or a traditional color. Introduction An 'ecological valence theory' (EVT) has be ...

. Another possibility is an all-green garden, which may feel peaceful or harmonious. A monochromatic edible garden is possible, but more challenging to design than a flower garden in any color except green. Yellow variegated leaves can be difficult to include in a multi-colored garden, but they blend easily into an all-yellow garden, such as all-yellow Gold Border garden at

Wave Hill Wave Hill is a estate in the Hudson Hill section of Riverdale in the Bronx, New York City. Wave Hill currently consists of public horticultural gardens and a cultural center, all situated on the slopes overlooking the Hudson River, with exp ...

in New York. Beyond the choice of color, single-color gardens are designed with a variety of types and sizes of flowers as well as plants of different heights, shapes and textures. Other elements of the garden, such as pathways, walls, and furniture, may match or contrast with the chosen color.

White garden

A white garden is a feature

composed of plants that produce white

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s and spathes as well as plants with a white or silvery cast to their foliage. The white garden is a variant of the color garden. The most essential feature of the white garden is its unity of color. The white garden is an informal gardening style that is similar in design to the English cottage garden. The open and informal design creates associations with romance, peace, and elegance. The white flowers are not usually placed in clusters, but spread throughout the garden's green areas, creating a natural look and feel. The mildly dense placement of white flowers creates a luminescent sight that is especially powerful in the

twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this i ...

. Because of this effect, they are sometimes called ''

moon garden A moon garden, also known as a twilight garden, evening garden, night garden, moonlight garden, or dream garden, is a type of garden designed to be enjoyed at dusk and nighttime. Fragrant flowers, light-colored vegetation or blooms that are vis ...

s''. The white flowers in a white garden are not necessarily pure white; they may have hints of other colors, such as gray, blue, pink, yellow, or green. The White Garden at Sissinghurst, for example, contains white, grey and silver. Flowers used in white gardens may include: *White

camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controv ...

* Shasta daisy *White lilac * Madonna lily *White periwinkle *White

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

Role of symbolism

The color white, and white flowers in particular, carry a vast amount of

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sym ...

. In parts of the US in 1915, single-color flower gardens featuring yellow flowers were used as a symbol of support for women's right to vote.

References

Types of garden {{garden-stub

Single-color gardens

White garden

Role of symbolism

See also

References