Does your "sign" influence your gardening style?

A little lengthy, but very entertaining. I'm a Gemini
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What to Plant?: It's all in the stars. Here's your 'hortiscope'

As an astrologer, I have been accused of trying to lead the masses down the garden path. Usually I would defend myself against such allegations, except that "the garden path" is exactly where I'm headed.

BY THE EDMONTON JOURNALAPRIL 27, 2006


As an astrologer, I have been accused of trying to lead the masses down the garden path. Usually I would defend myself against such allegations, except that "the garden path" is exactly where I'm headed.

Every zodiac sign has a particular gardening style. A flighty Gemini might have difficulty committing to a long-term landscape plan. The solution? Plant more annuals. A Cancer gardener may need to put down roots, planting species that take years to mature.

I'm not just making this up! The astrological advice I'm about to share is based on ancient traditions. Nevertheless, the art of gardening is constantly being modernized by the introduction of new varieties, including plants that have received the All-America Selections distinction -- recognized for superior garden performance throughout North America. Keep an eye open for these newcomers when you visit the greenhouse this spring. Even if you don't put any credence in my astrological expertise, you'll thank your lucky stars that you put some faith into my gardening advice.

Aries - The Ram: March 21-April 19

In spring your get-up-and-go attitude is unrivalled. By midsummer, many of you wonder where it got up and went. Living with a short attention span is your challenge. Try using more trees and shrubs in your landscape plan. Plant annuals en masse so that individual areas of the border burst into colour at different times like fireworks exploding across the sky. Keep a few flowers in pots waiting in the wings to fill in the gaps where things don't work out. Your style is contemporary, so don't underestimate the importance of modern architectural elements in your design.

Your flower: With flowers resembling torches, Celosia Fresh Look Red and Fresh Look Yellow (AAS 2004) suit your fiery nature. These easy-to-grow, sun-loving annuals are ready to steal the show wherever they're grouped together.

Taurus - The Bull: April 20-May 20

The cottage garden is a perfect match for you, because this sentimental style invites a little neglect. Comfortable patio furniture has a special place in your landscape, too, and you probably enjoy it more than the flowers. Compensate for your decadent nature by choosing plants that don't require rigorous maintenance. Taurus is associated with flowering fruit trees. If you're not going to use the fruit, find varieties with a lighter yield, or it may be rotting on your lawn next spring. Fall cleanup is not your specialty!

Your flower: Hollyhock Queeny Purple (AAS 2004) is not only shorter than the hollyhocks that bloomed in your grandma's garden, but it's also the first purple variety available as a single colour. Its carefree habit makes it a must-have for the carefree Taurus gardener.

Gemini - The Twins: May 21-June 20

One day in winter you declare that flowers are your passion. Soon your house is full of seed trays, grow lights and potted bulbs. Usually this gardening mania lasts until you get your seedlings into the ground. Just as often, it's abandoned once something else catches your attention. Enjoying new things is in your nature. Sticking with them isn't, so embrace the fact that you can be fickle. Look for plants that were unheard of a few years ago. Fill up pots with new varieties, and impress your friends with your floral fashion sense. Avoid major renovations until you've given yourself time to consider the projects. The last thing you need is a fish pond full of mosquito larvae that seemed like a good idea at the time.

Your flower: Diamonte Coral Rose Diascia (AAS 2006) might just be the must-have of the season. Cold tolerance also means that this cascading variety can thrive in sunny pots north of the border. Don't leave the greenhouse without it!

Cancer - The Crab: June 21-July 22

The style that best suits you is the "classical" style of gardening, with its roots in French and English estates. Formal borders, well-manicured lawns and conventionally beautiful blooms appeal to your conservative nature. Even the vegetable garden is laid out in an orderly fashion, reminiscent of more ambitious projects, like formal herb gardens. Neoclassic statuary plays an important role in the landscape, and patios are often crafted from stone. Avoiding the fickle nature of fashion is your primary concern. Like a crab who carries his home on his back, you should expect to live with your garden for as long as nature allows you to.

Your flower: The lilac flower spikes of Salvia farinacea Evolution (AAS 2006) provide an attractive alternative to lavender in cold climates. Take advantage of their uniformity and line them up like toy soldiers in beds and borders.

Leo - The Lion: July 23-Aug. 22

You are a master of the mixed border, combining plants with the flair of a florist. Showy blooms in abundance and contrasting foliage colours define the dramatic style of your sign. You're also talented when it comes to garden design, incorporating structures such as pergolas and arbors into your plan. Leo is also the sign that hits its stride in the summer heat. Being able to entertain in your yard at that time is important to you, so make choices that allow your guests to be comfortable. Practical considerations often take a back seat to your creative impulses.

Your flower: Heat tolerant and showy enough to be seen from a few blocks away, Zinnia Zowie Yellow Flame (AAS 2006) has a place in anyone's garden, but be the first in your neighborhood to show it off this summer.

Virgo - The Virgin: Aug. 23-Sept. 22

The Virgo style is that of perfection, yet there is nothing perfect about nature. Still, the Virgo gardener will work to fashion a facsimile of nature. This style is akin to the Japanese way of gardening, where the surroundings are cleverly manipulated to appear untouched by human hands. Foliage plays a far greater role than flowers, and plants are often chosen for other characteristics they exhibit, like interesting seed heads or distinctive bark. The most important element, however, is the transition zone between indoors and outdoors. In theory, there should be very little contrast between these areas. In practice, just try to track a few dead leaves into this clean house!

Your flower: Like a wetland cattail with dark purple foliage, Ornamental Millet Purple Majesty (AAS 2003) is different from anything else on the market. Nothing about this plant is messy, making it a perfect choice for even the neatest Virgo gardener.

Libra - The Scales: Sept. 23-Oct. 22

You combine plants in a manner that makes others appear pedestrian, because good taste is programmed into your DNA. But the inclination to slack off is also part of your genetic makeup.

It's easier to maintain a few pots than it is to tend to a whole yard, so consider container gardening as your ideal hobby. Dismiss grandiose plans at first, including water features, topiaries and even large lawns.

Every time you get hung up on one project, it's usually at the expense of another. A glorious garden might mean a messy house. Strike a balance! Start small and then see where it goes.

Your flower: Heat-loving zinnias thrive in containers where the soil temperature remains relatively warm. The huge, long-lasting blossoms of Zinnia Magellan Coral (AAS 2005) need far less deadheading than most other annuals, too.

Scorpio - The Scorpion: Oct. 23-Nov. 21

Intense passion is the hallmark of your sign. When that passion is directed into a creative project, the results are unrivalled. The reason for this isn't just your dedication to your hobby, but also the style of garden that you plant. Scorpio is associated with the realities of life, including sex, birth and death. The Scorpio garden dies as spectacularly as it lives, with brilliant autumn colours, unique seed pods and colourful, ripe fruits. The fragrant, flowering plants of this landscape also invite life of another kind. Bugs thrive in this olfactory banquet, and so do their predators. This is where life happens, and it's also where life ends. That's nature!

Your flower: An intense colour puts Nicotiana Perfume Deep Purple (AAS 2006) in a class by itself. But it's the scent of these flowers wafting through the garden on calm evenings that will make it your passion for years to come.

Sagittarius - The Archer: Nov. 22-Dec. 21

If possible, the typical Sagittarius gardener would have one of everything. However, most botanical gardens don't even have enough space for the ambitious, expansive plans of this enthusiastic sign. As a result, the garden often spills out its boundaries, into greenhouses, into the house or down the back lane. Sometimes this impulse to move beyond borders inspires the gardener to discover ways to extend the season. Out-of-zone plants are tested for their hardiness, yet there is rarely disappointment when a specimen doesn't survive. The death of one plant is regarded as a chance to plant another. An opportunity never goes unnoticed in this ever-evolving garden.

Your flower: Free-flowering under a wide variety of conditions, Viola Skippy XL Red-Gold (AAS 2006) should have you fired up this spring, since the season never starts early enough for the Sagittarius gardener.

Capricorn - The Sea Goat: Dec. 22-Jan. 19

In gardening, patience is a virtue that few possess. While others might landscape a new yard with reckless abandon, the Capricorn gardener adopts a long-term plan, selecting plants for what they will become, not what they look like on the greenhouse floor. Every aspect of the new variety is carefully considered, including winter interest.

Evergreens form the framework of this style, outdoing architectural elements in terms of visual significance. Under a blanket of snow, the mature Capricorn garden is unrivalled for its beauty.

Esthetically, this is the garden of the late bloomer, and before it's established it might just appear to be a work-in-progress.

Your flower: Try filling the gaps in your garden with Dianthus Supra Purple (AAS 2006). Lending continuous bloom to the border, these beauties sometimes survive under the snow to flower again the following spring.

Aquarius - The Water Bearer: Jan. 20-Feb. 18

According to the Aquarius gardener, the yard should be a place to socialize. Patios, decks and firepits can take up considerable real estate in your garden, pushing plants into places that might not allow them to flourish. The solution to this problem is container gardening. You can be fond of fashion, yet your individual style is rarely defined by current trends. The ability to combine tried-and-true strains with more unconventional varieties is your gift from the heavens. Just remember that plants in pots require attentive watering. Midsummer might be your most sociable time of the year, but it is often your laziest season, too.

Your flower: Gaillardia Arizona Sun (AAS 2005) can be a shining star in your patio pots. Save a few for a sunny border, too. Depending upon the severity of your winter, they might show up for a repeat performance next year.

Pisces - The Fish: Feb. 19-March 20

A fish pond suits your sign, of course. Yet water gardening can be a very labour-intensive process. Start small and develop the necessary skills to master this discipline. Check your imagination at the garden gate, too. You're inclined to take on projects that are well beyond your capabilities. Accept that gardening is trial and error, and you'll be able to turn those black thumbs into green thumbs.

In the meantime, let your whimsical nature take over. Go ahead and buy that entire village of garden gnomes! As your knowledge of gardening grows, plants will soon become the foundation of your landscape. Just be patient. You don't want to look like a fish out of water.

Your flower: Ornamental Pepper Black Pearl (AAS 2006) should have a place in your yard this season. With its exotic, pitch-dark leaves and low-care growing requirements, it's likely to thrive in any garden - even yours!

Greg Polkosnik is a freelance writer and lecturer who spends his summers working in the greenhouse business.

Last year he won the Edmonton Horticultural Society's competition in the Annual Beds category and placed second in Container Gardens.

© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.

I'm a gemini too and wow thats me to a tee well dont like that flower though
thanks for posting that
jen

pretty funny jo, but the truth is I have planted the nicotiana deep purple for the past two years......

Theresa

The notes under Cancer are definitely not me!
Manicured lawns!? No way around here!
I will look up that Salvia though.

OHHHHHHHH ,,,,,,,,well where can I find the ornamental Pepper Black Pearl?

Does anybody have a pic of it?

The Black Pearl pepper plant is pictured in the Tand M catalogue.
Both the foliage and fruit turn a dark colour.

I'm a Taurus. I'm supposed to "Compensate for your decadent nature by choosing plants that don't require rigorous maintenance" This must be for Taurus on planets that don't have dahlias.

Okay, they are wrong on Cancer because two of us are not what they describe!

So wrong on Pisces - I like fairies in my garden But Not Gnomes.
Yes, I like water gardens, but so do alot of people
Things flourish in my garden, as long as I choose to plant them - including roses.

I guess it's another one of those "take it with a grain of salt" - more like a salt lick LOL

~Susan~

The Sagittarius one is dead on!! at least for me it is...

and so is taurus for me and the leo is just like my sister hahahhaha that is what my garden is I plant stuff not looking to match colors or anything I just want blooms and more blooms just like the cottage garden no real order

lol, Sagitarius here too,

my gardens spilleth over....

plant some, grow some, kill some, plant some, grow some.....