Some are already started and some are in the planning stages, but I find it easier to know what plants I want to include, it they fit the theme. While some themes are obvious, others are more practical. The entry garden is actually against the house, so I use mainly thornless roses (in case I have to touch up paint) and perennials that will look nice all summer and (hopefully) will be a little less maintenance. The fairy garden is half shade garden/half butterfly and bee garden, with fun things inlcuded, like gallica roses that change color and miniature roses with violets. The mint border is along two sides of the house, which gives me a great place for spearmint and bee balm, but can be mowed along one side to keep them under control. It's also great for keeping mice away from the house :)

Do you have theme gardens or a garden that fits into a category, or just a similar garden space that runs around the house? I probably get this garden style from my mom, who loves cottage gardens, but always manages to have a shade garden, an asian-style garden with her japanese maple and garden lantern, etc. and a big vegetable garden. This year, she's planning her butterfly/bee garden and a separate wildlife/bird garden in the back part of her property. There, she's using mostly native plants, so it saves on water and will do well without protection from the house in the winter.

What kind of gardens do you have and are there any you are hoping to add in the future?

When I say "deer resistant" or "outer gardens" that means everything outside my cottage garden fence. So, "cottage garden" is anything inside the fence.

I have a rain garden, fragrance garden, butterfly garden, waterfall garden... but those are all in the deer resistant garden!

And, I have plants everywhere for the butterflies, but I grow host plants and hot colors in the "butterfly garden." Although... that's changing since I'm growing swamp milkweed in my rain garden and the Monarchs prefer that milkweed over my xeric milkweeds.

I confuse myself! LOL

Cameron

As far as themed gardens go I don't have any. I would love to have enough space to experiment around with making some though! Maybe it is a good thing I don't do themed gardens though. Once I got started I would end up wanting to make a million of them, lol.

I do have names for various zones of my garden. I use descriptions for the names too, like Alley Garden, Front Shade Garden, Patio Garden, Arbor Garden etc. Little nook gardens are easy to name, but it does get confusing when taling about the largest part of the garden that can't really be named anything.
CMK

Carol

The pool room... enclosed roofed area, U shaped planter around small koi pool with small deck.

The court yard... reclaimed top of driveway, when DH gave his boat to our SIL, yours truly planted a tree and claimed the space as her own. Has a fence on one side covered in Ivy and Actinidia kolomikta with a Clematis and Honeysuckle in the corner. Across from the fence the stucco on the house is covered in Boston Ivy and there's a 6 foot gate on the bottom end. This is mostly a shade garden.

The one thing led to another garden... it just happened a bit at a time (lots of constructive staring). Small pool, low stacked stone wall and gravel path just outside the lathhouse.

Cottage Garden in the making... sandwiched in between vine covered fence, pool room, rose and clematis covered lattice on the back wall of a long shed and a pergola.

Annette

The rose garden is all gamble winners (fragrance). Try to keep it all pink, etc.

The autumn border is part of my foliage garden and I use lots of warm but not hot colors there. Peach heuchera, black mondo grass, India Frills coeus, Japanese maples with warm colors spring, summer and fall, a mature hackberry tree, a quaking aspen, blackberry lilies, chinese lanterns, etc. I do have some autumn crocus there that suprise me with pink blooms in autumn. I try to have lots of pink and lavender everywhere in the fall. I also have winter aconite in that bed, gold bonanza barberry, concord barberry, arum italicum, mayapples, cinnamon ferns, tangutica clemmies, C. fargessioides, etc.

I have a winter garden with lots of blues, silvers and whites all year. This is another bed that has nearly lost it's identity. I added a cheddar charm peony and the yellow just messed it all up! I grow papaver somniferums, true blue petunias in many shades, veronica Georgia blue, Vatican white salvia (ooh; ahh!), true blue clemmies, salvia argentea, a cutleaf artimesia that I love from HCG, other artemesias, etc.

Then we have beds that are: Dave side, driveway bed, alley bed, snaps bed, bird bath circle, etc. You have to name them so you can talk about them!

Then of course I have two butterfly borders; the new one and the small one. The small one is 4' X 25' and the new one is 4-12' X 40'. Love those beds. very cottagey and colorful.

I'm starting to experience separation anxiety from my spring and summer gardens.

Mickie

Roselane- I would love to see the tea pergola...do you sit there and have tea?

I think it's very interesting that some people have theme gardens, some name their gardens by the location, and many do both.

Mickie- I agree! You have to name the garden to talk about it :)

I love the idea of a lamb garden as we used to raise sheep. Have to give that more thot - it could have a lot of lamb's ears in it! Maybe it could also have mostly white with some black flowers as we had both colors of sheep. I have a cute terracotta lamb to put there. Thanks for that idea Mickie!

As much as I like the idea of theme gardens I also want continuity so right now I'm planning meandering paths which I'll edge with (probably) alyssum leading to each area. I will have a labyrinth and am planning a bed encircling it, but not sure what to plant there. Something not too tall, perennial, and that doesn't attract bees. The bees can stay in the rest of my garden but I don't want to think about them when walking the labyrinth! I'm definitely doing a wildflower area, continue to improve my shade garden which will probably also have the fairy garden in it under the trees (last year my fairy garden was in a vintage tin bathtub), and an area with drought tolerant plants (furthest from the house and source of water). I'll continue to have herbs near the patio (and kitchen) and increase this, maybe add some decorative veggies such as rainbow swiss chard, mesclun mix, scarlet runners, and edible flowers such as pansies and nasturtiums. Might even move my rhubarb there. Many of the perennials I have in the mixed borders are herbals from centuries ago so I could include them (yarrow, Lady's Mantle, rue, feverfew, mallow) and call it a Healing Garden.

I recently found a pic of a slope with many types and colors of alpine flowers and thyme which was lovely and I'd love to do that on our back slope. Link below - if you click on the second pic it will enlarge.

One theme I'm seriously planning is "deer-resistant borders" around the entire garden perimeter. Hoping it will help keep them out of the fenced house yard if they smell plants they don't like on the perimeter. At least I'll keep the plants they like best closest to the house where I can chase them away.

So my theme gardens might be:
~ No-deer
~ Labyrinth
~ Shade/fairy
~ Bird friendly
~ Desert/xeriscaping
~ Wildflower
~ Pretty healing garden
~ Alpine/Thyme/Rock garden

Thanks for this thread, it's helping with my planning! And making me realize I either need to set goals for about the next 5 years or find staff! LOL