Garden Trends 2015

Organically grown, heirloom zukes at the Nitty Gritty Potager

 

As always, this is my favourite post of the year. What's happening, what's new, and what's trending?

Here are my thoughts, reflections and ideas regarding what gardening looks like as we head into the new year of 2015.

1. Buying Local - This is my favourite trend of the year! Consumers are supporting their own peeps while spending less time and money at the big, box stores. Realising that the big box stores make a huge eco-foot print with the growing, shipping, spraying of plants, their use of neonics (a systemic pesticide hazardous to our bee population), buying local and organic really is the only way to go.
It seems that more than ever, we are buying from local growers, small biz, mom and pop businesses, farms and farmers markets, putting local people and small businesses first, keeping the money in our own communities!

Buying locally grown foods from local community members

 

2. A Safer, Better World - Buying and growing environmentally friendly and safe foods for our kids and grand kids. Planting fruit trees and shrubs and growing our own foods. Buying our seeds from Safe Seed Pledged companies, thus taking a stance against genetic engineering. Buying our plants, veggie starts, trees and shrubs from local suppliers that grow both organically, sustainably, and ethically.

Organically grown potatoes at the Nitty Gritty Greenhouse

3. The New Gardeners - The Millennials (those aged 18 to 35) are totally embracing gardening in a big way. This is very, very exciting news. Wanting the world to be a better place, they are contributing to making that happen. They connect with their kids through gardening, teaching them how to be good stewards of the planet. Growing food, enticing pollinators, attracting birds and beneficial bugs to the yard, restoring bio-diversity. The Millenials grow, weed, can/de-dydrate, bake, grow chickens, homestead on urban plots... They are making ethical choices to make the world a better place. Go Millenials go!    

Poster from thesesaltyoats.com
A millennials gardening poster for the 'Victory Gardens of Tomorrow.'  

4. Keeping It Simple - Easy to care for pots, planters and small beds containing just one or two plant varieties for huge visual impact. Staggered pots with the soft blue-grey hues of lavender, brilliantly hued calibrachoa's, or bright and happy African Daisies (Osteospermums). Colourful beds of cutting zinnias, bachelor's buttons, asters, or dahlias. 
Simple to care for pots, planters and beds that provide a big pop of colour and style!
     

Pots of Raspberry Lemonade Zinnias. 

Simple, easy, no-fuss plants, with big impact.  

5. Curves are in! - In a big way! Spiral gardens, keyhole gardens, wavy meandering pathways ... Geometric shapes of all kinds are really in, but most especially the circles and curves.  

Curves from hortist.com

6. Fighting Back - Pushing back and fighting municipality rules for the right to grow our own organic foods, to house chickens, and keep bees on our own property. Rather than growing lush yet useless lawns and landscapes that community by-laws seem to demand and protect, we are fighting back for the right to feed our families from our own land.

Fighting back by growing food!

7. Portable Gardening -  This trend is big with everyone, but most especially with renters and non-home-owners. Growing perennial foods in all types of portable vessels, for gardens that move when you do!  The Brazelberries fruiting shrubs are great examples of this trend. They have made it so easy to grow both raspberries and blueberries in pots; portable, eco-friendly, super fruits on your front stoop! 

Brazelberries Raspberry Shortcake pic from bylands.com
A raspberry that is compact, thrives in a pot, and is thornless.   

 Jelly Bean Blueberry from Brazelberries.

Pic from monrovia.com

8. The casual -unstyle... Gardens that work with the landscape to be casual, wild and natural looking.

 Un-style gardening... pic from thatbloominggarden.wordpress.com

9. Colour of the year for 2015!
Of course, as always, the colour of the year. This post just wouldn't be the same without Pantone's colour pick for the year ahead ..

Introducing Marsala, a yummy, deep, chocolate-y red hue. Is earthy and warm, just like the wine it is named after... Yum.

 Marsala coloured blooms in bouquets from blushandbowties.ca

Another Marsala colour pic from womangettingmarried.com