The design trend of choosing plants for their structural and sculptural qualities rather than decorative aesthetic evolved shortly after WWII.
Some of those plants are still used today and others have been reinvented. Here are 13 plants that work well in modern-style gardens. Though perfect for a drought-tolerant garden with a southwestern feel, especially when combined with cacti and succulents, many types are hardy as far north as Zone 4. Canna 'Pretoria' left , elephant's ear Alocasia macrorrhiza right.
Photo by: Susan A. Mod Appeal: Structural to the extreme! Update: Used in over-the-top Victorian gardens, but development of canna cultivars with striped or nearly black foliage have put them back on the scene. Mod Appeal: Unbeatable foliage plant, forming the backbone of many shade gardens.
Use as a specimen in a pot or in sweeps of ground cover. Update: A flood of new cultivars entered the market years ago, with a mind-boggling array of leaf shapes, sizes and colors. Mod Appeal: Strongly vertical, yet compact, the red-hot poker contributes the all-important eyestopping moment to a design.
Mod Appeal: Space-age globes of flowers float above mounds of strappy foliage, attractive even when not in bloom. Plant en masse or in a pot. Update: This conservatory plant from South Africa moved outdoors with the arrival of the hardier Headbourne Hybrids in the s, just in time to become a darling of the modernists. Mod Appeal: For designers concerned with form, texture and color, New Zealand flax Phormium tenax is a godsend. The long, leathery, swordlike leaves fan out boldly and hold their shape through thick and thin.
Update: Breeding at a furious pace has produced some excellent garden varieties, both in form and color, e. Mod Appeal: The fleshy, organic geometry of succulents is fascinating and seems particularly at home in contemporary settings. The California modernists in particular enjoyed the graphic impact of these low-upkeep plants in the garden and in containers.
A conversation piece in windowsill gardens in cooler zones. Their symmetrical rosettes can be nearly flat to the ground or perched atop snaky stems. Mod Appeal: Tolerant of most soil types, drought- and disease-resistant with interesting foliage and long-lasting flowers appearing late in the season, the sedums are an easy sell to any garden designer looking for an attractive, hardworking plant that plays well with others of the same ilk, such as grasses�just ask Oehme, van Sweden.
Attractive seed heads follow after the blooming season. Mod Appeal: Fountains of delicate foliage and flowers are good foils for bolder plants and add movement to thegarden. Tall grasses make living hedges; shorter grasses and sedges are tidy yet informal edging. Handsome in the garden even in their winter tans and browns.
Update: Grasses and sedges have taken the gardening world by storm. Varieties with variegated foliage, such as Evergold sedge Carex hachijoensis with dark green and bright gold striped leaves are popular.
Mod Appeal: Swiss cheese plant Monstera deliciosa is a robust vine in warm zones and a houseplant farther north. Used in interiors so often at midcentury that it is synonymous with the fifties. Mod Appeal: The modernists agreed with the Victorians on this one. Aucuba japonica has full-season interest with glossy evergreen leaves and red berries. Adaptable, easy shrub for shade. Update: Breeding programs have produced a plethora of variegated forms.
Mod Appeal: A native of Japan, Fatsia japonica suits the Asian-inspired style of many modernist homes, making a bold foliage plant for the shade. Update: Fatsia is a familiar houseplant that has made a transition to the outdoor landscape in warmer zones. Mod Appeal: A cast-iron constitution, shade tolerance and easy upkeep explain the appeal of smart, functional lily turf Liriope muscari.
Watch this short video to see how a modern planting plan was put together. Just as architects veered off in a radical new direction in the years after World War II, garden designers were throwing off the yoke of the highly ornamented, specimen-packed gardens of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Like their architect peer group, they embraced the modern principles of simplicity, efficiency and functionality. Christopher Tunnard, a garden designer with a teaching appointment at Harvard who had migrated from Europe to America in , produced a book, Gardens in the Modern Landscape Architectural Press, , which proved to be a major influence on the Eckbo, Church, Rose generation of modernist garden designers.
For the modern landscape designer, that translated into the sparing use of plants chosen for their sculptural rather than their decorative effects. They were to be enjoyed, like abstract art, for their color, form, texture and balance. Foliage was in, flowers were out. The point was to provide a backdrop for the evolving suburban way of life.
The midcentury also ushered in the glory days of the American lawn, long before concerns about water conservation reached a head. Midcentury designers lauded the low-maintenance garden, which not only carried forward the lessons of good design, but also gave the garden back to everyman.
It was a time of purposeful austerity, a time when gardens were composed of a limited plant palette, marked by the repetition of shapes and materials. Of course some of those midcentury plants have hung around and are mainstays today�a testament to their reliability. Some have been the source of renewed interest, thanks to plant breeders who have reinvented the old favorites�coleus, for example.
The march goes on because the lessons of good design never go out of style. Get plant information, gardening solutions, design inspiration and more in our weekly newsletter. More about the newsletter. Copyright All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Get planting advice, garden design tips and trends, monthly checklists for your area, product specials and more in our weekly newsletter.
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Photo by: Proven Winners. Phormium 'Sundowner'. Photo by: John Glover. Photo by: Andrea Jones. SEDUM Mod Appeal: Tolerant of most soil types, drought- and disease-resistant with interesting foliage and long-lasting flowers appearing late in the season, the sedums are an easy sell to any garden designer looking for an attractive, hardworking plant that plays well with others of the same ilk, such as grasses�just ask Oehme, van Sweden.
Evergold Sedge. Photo by: Andrew Lawson. Photo by: Jerry Pavia. I give my consent to be emailed I give my consent for my email activity to be tracked. Follow Us. Shop Garden Products From tools to furniture, these garden products are sure to delight.
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