Create a Gothic Garden

Does the idea of wandering through a cemetery at night enchant you? Do you like Victorian aesthetics? Do the strange, the dark and the gloomy appeal to you? It is possible that the idea of designing a Gothic-inspired garden is exactly the project for you!

What Exactly Is Gothic Style?

The Gothic style is primarily an architectural movement that developed in Europe between the 12th and 16th centuries. It then experienced a renaissance during the Victorian era, when several architectural elements of the period were recovered, often out of pure romanticism and nostalgia for the period. The long columns and pointed arches, for example, are two important features of this movement.

For various reasons, we also associate Gothic with a cultural movement driven by a particular aesthetic and musical style. A vast subject if ever there was one. The followers of this movement are also interested in post-punk, neo-romanticism, horror films and “film noir” (especially German expressionism of the 1950s), the Victorian or Edwardian movements.

The Gothic Garden is the result of this architectural and cultural mix. There will be Transylvanian castle ruins, stained glass windows, natural stone and cut granite. Wrought iron will also be a material of choice and will be finely worked. Of course, the Gothic garden will be decorated with many statues, gargoyles, bird baths, fountains and candle holders!

It is a garden that can be linear and symmetrical, like a French garden. But it can also take the form of a winding and confusing garden that seems to be overgrown with vegetation. The image that comes to mind is that of the secret garden in the film of the same name (The Secret Garden – 1993) BEFORE it was restored. Finally, the exuberance and exoticism of Victorian-inspired gardens are also good sources of inspiration.  

Black Flowers, Dark foliage and a Touch of Thorns

A wonderful challenge for gardeners, the plants that grace a Gothic garden usually have dark flowers or foliage, as close to black as possible. Of course, truly black flowers are rare. More realistic are shades of chocolate brown, dark purple or burgundy. Plants with deep, intense red flowers are also very interesting for these gardens.

The use of plants with dark foliage is also recommended, but as with everything, it is important to use the right amount. If all the foliage is dark, nothing really stands out. It is therefore necessary to incorporate plants with green foliage throughout the composition.

The Gothic garden would be nothing without sublime roses with very thorny stems. Plants with thorny stems and leaves add to the apparent austerity that one wants to invest in this type of garden.

5 shrubs with dark foliage

• Smoke tree ‘Winecraft Black’ (Cotinus ‘Winecraft Black’)
• Bush honeysuckle ‘Kodiak Black’ (Diervilla ‘Kodiak Black’)
• Purple-leaved Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Atropurpureum’)
• Ninebark ‘Summerwine’ (Physocarpus ‘Summerwine’)
• Weigela ‘Spilled Wine’ (Weigela ‘Spilled Wine’)  

7 perennials with almost black foliage

• Big Blue Stem ‘Blackhawks’ (Andropogon ‘Blackhawks’)
• Astilbe ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ (Astilbe chinensis ‘Dark Side of the Moon’)
• Bugleweed ‘Black Scallop’ (Ajuga reptans ‘Black Scallop’)
• Bugbane ‘Hillside Black Beauty’ (Cimicifuga simplex ‘Hillside Black Beauty’)
• Heuchera ‘Black Forest Cake’ (Heuchera ‘Black Forest Cake’)
• Beardtongue ‘Blackbeard’ (Penstemon ‘Blackbeard’)
• Sedum ‘Back in Black’ (Sedum ‘Back in Black’)

5 perennial plants with black or almost black flowers

• Garden Iris ‘Black Sergeant’ (Iris germanica ‘Black Sergeant’)
• Peony ‘Black Beauty’ (Paeonia ‘Black Beauty’)
• Black hollyhock (Alcea rosea ‘Blacknight’)
• Pincushion flower ‘Black Night’ (Scabiosa ‘Black Night’)
• Violet ‘Bowles Black’ (Viola ‘Bowles Black’)  

5 Interesting Flowering Perennials for the Gothic Garden

• Bleeding heart ‘Valentine’ (Dicentra spectabilis ‘Valentine’)
• Maltese Cross (Silene chalcedonica)
• Daylily ‘Blackthorne’ (Hemerocallis ‘Blackthorne’)
• Hibiscus ‘Midnight Marvel’ (Hibiscus ‘Midnight Marvel’)
• Wild Bergamot ‘Fireball’ (Monarda ‘Fireball’)

5 thorny plants that are essential in a Gothic garden

All roses, especially tea roses. Raspberry bushes and mulberry bushes too.

• Bear’s Breeches (Acanthus spinosus)
• Devil’s Walking Stick (Aralia spinosa)
• Hawthorn (Crataegus sp.)
• Globe Thistle (Echinops sp.)
• Sea Holly ‘Blue Glitter’ (Eryngium planum ‘Blue Glitter’)  

A Tribute to the Icons of Gothic Culture

It so happens that a number of horticultural varieties have been named in honour of people who have shaped and inspired the Goth movement. Of course, in this perpetual effort to remain underground, many important figures in goth culture remain unknown to the general public… and to most hybridisers!

• Japanese maple ‘Lydia’ (Acer palmatum ‘Lydia’)
• Daylily ‘Bela Lugosi’ (Hemerocallis ‘Bela Lugosi’)
• Hosta ‘Ohh! Elvira’ (Hosta ‘Ohh! Elvira’)
• Iris ‘Beetlejuice’ (Iris ‘Beetlejuice’)
• Garden iris ‘Count Dracula’ (Iris germanica ‘Count Dracula’)
• Rose ‘Portlandica’ (Rosa ‘Portlandica’)

This is just a small taste of the beautiful possibilities that come with creating a Gothic inspired garden. Black flowering plants are becoming more and more common and their colour is getting closer and closer to real black. Which reminds me that in the vegetable world, cherry tomatoes, aubergines and peppers are also getting darker! You can also add medicinal herbs or plants used in witchcraft to your garden if Wicca is one of your interests.

Finally, no Gothic garden would be complete without bat houses. These are easy to build and install. And those nocturnal visitors certainly need them!