2016 GardenTrends

Common Milkweed flowers - covered with insects.

Are you a garden rebel, opportunist, traditionalist, rule maker or rule breaker?  The predictions are out for 2016’s garden trends.

Plantsman, lecturer, and writer, Andy Mcindoe, lists 2016 trends:

1.    Anything to do with bees. Single flowered varieties for bees & butterflies.

2.    Wildlife planting.

3.    Mixing flowers & vegetables in borders.

4.    Replacing annuals with low maintenance perennials.

5.    Using seeds more than nursery plants.

6.    Less use of chemicals & more organic.

7.    Using alternatives to perfect green lawns.

More gardening trends are developing towards protecting the environment.

Hot bright colors will be promoted including rich blues, purples, red, orange and dark green foliage.  If you’re into your pastel stage, they may be a bit harder to find.

One “new” trend is using old familiar (grandparents’ era) perennials, shrubs and trees but bred with new colors, hardiness and disease resistance.

Daylily "Orange Vols"

Another example of “What’s old is new” is the big resurgence of orange daylilies.  Once shunned by the public (and therefore breeders) because it was too similar to the ditch lily, Hemerocallis Orange Tawny.  Today, orange daylilies are the hot introductions.

The seed and plant producers are catering to the “foodie ” trend by offering more, better and healthier options for your vegetable gardens.

The “Garden Media Group” predicts on-line devices will become more important to gardeners bringing in younger generations.  Education, media and retailers are using web applications to help us experience the great outdoors.  If a fruit, vegetable or the beauty in your yard can be tied to the “outdoor lifestyle experience” it will be a better sell – making it a trend.   

The G.M.G. appeals to the younger consumers by helping them view the outdoors as something they can control and make their own.  They don’t care what it costs (high or low) only if it validates their intellect, taste and lifestyle.  What does this mean in trending?  It means you can expect to see the growers and marketers offering products that meet these requirements.

It’s already happening and perhaps you didn’t realize what was driving these trends.  Examples: 

·      Growing hops for backyard brewing.

·      Vegetables & fruits used for natural dyes.

·      LEDs as design features.

·      Outdoors as a destination or as another room.

·      Plants purchased for function as well as beauty.

·      More awareness for the health; safety of children & pets among plants.

·      Drought tolerant plants.

·      Accepting the look of a chemical free environment.

·      The DIY movement.

·      Outdoor furnaces, windmills, solar; food preservation.

·      And the mother of all marketing statements, “Being in sync with nature is the first step in a healthy, rewarding life.”

My friend's, Mary, garden of wild control.

As with most trends, what’s old is new again.  Only this time old is being brought to you over the web.  Called “naTECHure”, it’s a hot trend blending technology and nature. Balance this with an awareness that much of what you read on trends means you are being marketed to by someone who wants to sell you something.

And the flip side with Mcindoe’s comment: “Fashion in gardening is a fallacy because people will buy their favorites and it’s wildly influenced by what’s in production.”  …And then there’s that!