Introducing Art, Whimsy and Laughter into Your Garden

Posted on Thursday, July 23, 2026 · Leave a Comment 

For some, gardening is serious business. Not me. Well, I do consider myself a serious gardener, having been growing things since I was a toddler, but I like to make our gardens full of plants – and things – that bring smiles or even laughs to anyone visiting the garden. Gardens should be beautiful, but also fun.

 

Jewel weed can be aggressive but a few add fun to the garden

When I was a small boy my older sister, Ruth Anne, introduced me to jewel weed, also called touch-me-not (Impatiens capensis). It is an annual weed that grows is shady, moist areas and has small bright yellow and orange flowers. But the best part for a kid are the seed pods. Each little canoe-shaped pod is spring loaded with  seeds, and when ripe, these pods can throw seeds several feet. Pick one, and it explodes in your hand. Guaranteed to make a child – or this old guy – laugh. Mind you, I try hard to eradicate 98% of the jewel weed I see in our gardens, but I leave a few at the edges to amuse and delight kids of all ages.

 

Lilac squirrel Sanguisorba blossoms are delightful to touch and see

Fuzzy plants are great for getting visitors to smile. Right now I have a variety of burnet (Sanguisorba spp.) that is named ‘Lilac Squirrel’. If you are of a certain age, you may remember when bicycles sometimes were adorned with real squirrel tails on the ends of the handlebars. These flowers, a lovely pink-lilac color, hang down like those squirrel tails, hence the name. I always am delighted when I see them. They make me smile. As do pussywillows in the spring.

 

Then there is turtlehead (Chelone obliqua), a gorgeous, tall, fall blooming flower I grow in moist, part shade to full sun locations. It has pink flowers that mimic the open mouth of a turtle. They are loved by bumblebees that force themselves inside the blossoms, with little room to spare. Once inside, they sometimes make what I call “growling noises”. Are the bees angry they are having a hard time finding their way out? Drunk on pollen? I don’t know, but I grin when I hear them.

 

Back in the 1980’s, when we had real cold winters, I had grown a peach tree to size and was anticipating a good crop of fruit. I waited, come spring, for it leaf out. And waited. No luck. It was dead. Instead of lamenting my misfortune, I planted annual vines all around it: morning glories, climbing nasturtium, scarlet runner beans and perhaps others. They grew, they blossomed, they amazed visitors: “What tree is that?” When I told them it was a dead peach, they laughed, every one.

 

Later I had a contorted hazelnut die of old age and my wife, Cindy, who is a fabric artist, tied on strips of different colored cloth to the branches. They blew in the breeze and added color to the garden for a year or more.

 

Buttonbush flower

A shrub I grow next to my little stream is called buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis). This full-sun to part shade shrub is a native, often growing in standing water in swamps – I just saw some in bloom down in Connecticut in the wild, but have never seen it up here, except in my garden. Why is it worthy of a giggle? When blooming it has one-inch spherical blossoms with many tiny white florets coming out of it, sort of like what I always imagined Sputnik to look like, with little antennae sticking out. You will want to touch it, sniff it. But it is not a handsome shrub most of the year. Although rated as a Zone 5 plant, for me it dies back to the ground most years in winter – even though we’ve been moved from Zone 4 to Zone 5.  

 

Surprise in the garden can be good for a giggle, too. For several years I had “Sister Mary-Lou” in the garden. She was a full-bodied, bosomy scarecrow in a purple dress

Sister Mary-Lou, the, Scarecrow, lived in the garden for a few years.

and old rubber barn boots. She was not made to scare away crows (as her ancestors were), but for the fun of seeing her. Even when I knew she was there, she was real enough to startle me early in the morning. Which then made me laugh at myself. She went traveling to the Tunbridge, Vermont “World’s Fair” in the late 1990’s and won Best in Show in the scarecrow competion, though she declined to brag about that. She has long been retired. A good scarecrow is always three dimensional, not just some clothes hung on a pole and a cross bar.

 

Each year for the past 20 years or more there has been an event in Woodstock, Vermont called Sculpture Fest on the property of Charlet and Peter Davenport at 509 Prosper Rd. and at the adjoining King Farm, a non-profit. This year it opened in mid-July and will remain open, dawn to dusk throughout the summer and into the fall. And although it displays some serious works of art, it also always has some fun and whimsy – and ideas for me about what I might add to our gardens. It is free and open to the public. 

 

Sculpture Fest has both whimsical and serious sculpture

So what whimsy might you add to your garden? I remember when pink plastic flamingoes were popular on front lawns. Then they became passé. Recently I saw a few poking their noses out of a field of tall grass – and had a chuckle. Yard sculpture can be almost anything.  I have a rusty toy truck from the 1940’s sitting atop a stone wall. I like seeing it there, and have had nice comments about it from visitors.

 

So stop at that yard sale you might otherwise pass by. See if there is anything interesting, colorful or weird that you might sneak into the garden. After all, garden whimsy doesn’t need to be weeded!

 

 

 

Turtlehead is loved by bumblebees

Toy truck as whimsy

 

Henry can be reached at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.

Filed under Article · Tagged with button bush, garden whimsy, jewel weed, Lilac Squirrel Sanguisorba, turtle head

Plants That Thrive in Wet or Moist Places

1. The drumstick primrose (Primula denticulata) blooms in early spring in hues of blue to red or white. Then comes P. kisoana that spreads by root in either wet or dry places. Last, starting now, there is the candelabra primrose (P. japonica) which sets out a series of blossoms on an increasingly tall stem over a month of bloom-time. All love growing under old apple trees in dappled shade.
2. 

   Thalia with Forget-Me-Nots

   Forget-Me-Nots (Myosotis sylvatica). I have these blooming now by the hundred everywhere I look, sun or shade. These lovely low-growing blue (or sometimes pink or white) flowers self-sow bountifully. They prefer rich moist soil and will do well in sun or shade. Because they come back from seeds so easily we let them bloom, then often pull them out like weeds to plant something else.

3. ‘Thalia’ daffodil. Most bulbs require good drainage, but ‘Thalia’ does fine in soggy soil. She is nearly white, and each bulb can produce three flowers at once. She blooms with the forget-me-nots. Order now for fall planting.
4. Globeflower (Trollius spp.). An early summer bloomer, it does best in part sun and moist soil, but will also grow in ordinary garden soil and in full shade. The blossoms are an inch or so across, and bright yellow. Blooms in late May to June, but may sometimes re-bloom in the fall.
5. Japanese iris (Iris ensata). These beauties will bloom in standing water, or in damp soil. They are like the Siberian iris, but their falls (petals) lay back almost flat. Blues and purples. Early summer.
6. Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis). These flowers are native plants the bloom on 3-foot stalks in fire engine red! I’ve seen them growing on the banks of the Connecticut River, but do well in moist soil and full sun in my garden. Will tolerate some dryness, but prefer wet. I avoid modern hybrids which are other colors, but not as hardy.
7. 

   Pollinators are attracted to Swamp milkweed by color and scent

   Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). Related to ordinary milkweed, this likes moist soil and full sun. Unlike the wild one, this does not send runners out and spread by root. Mine get 3- to 5-feet tall, and come in pink or white. Readily available at garden centers.

8. These flowers come in red, pink and white and various heights. They can survive in drier soil in shade, but really love moist, rich soil and full sun. good cut flower with an almost woody stem.
9. Goldenrod (Solidago spp.). There are many species, some of which spread by root, others do not. It is the very best perennial for supporting pollinators. Mid-summer to fall. ‘Fireworks’ is my favorite.
10. Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum). This is a native plant that thrives on stream beds and swampy areas that has bee domesticated. A cultivar known as ‘Gateway’ is the best, but gets to be over 6-feete tall. ‘Baby Joe’ is supposed to be a smaller version, but I haven’t tried it yet. Pollinators love this plant which blooms in fall with pinky-purple blossoms.
11. Turtlehead (Chelone lyonii). Gorgeous tall stems loaded with pink flowers shaped like helmets – or turtle heads. Will do sun or shade, loves moisture but will grow in ordinary gardens, too. Bumblebees force themselves inside, and seem to growl in there at times. Great cut flower. Fall.
12. 

    Henry Eiler rudbeckia does well in a moist, sunny location

    ‘Henry Eiler’ Rudbeckia. One of the latest flowers I grow. Petals are distinctive: they have space between each one, like missing teeth. Tall, often 6-feet or more. Needs to be staked early, or perhaps cut back in early June to reduce height. Blooms past frost. Full sun, rich moist soil.

Copyright © 2014 Henry Homeyer

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