Topiary Fun

My garden fun and whimsy happens to be my topiary collection.  I grew two this year and they are both animals.  The giraffe stands about 36 inches high and the alligator is a generous 29 inches long.

additional trimming after it was cut loose from the groundcover

The one that turned out best is my alligator.  I have the wire form stuffed with green moss and he is planted up with a variety of succulents.  Usually he resides by the walkway that leads to our side door. 



alligator on the walkway



However, this summer I was experimenting at growing a ground cover on his body as a filler between the hens and chicks (sempervivum).  So he needed to grow under the maple tree for about 5 weeks until the sedum took root.  I set him free tonight when I trimmed him loose and moved him to my favorite sunning spot.

This is not the best photo of the giraffe, so I'll have to get a better viewpoint.  But it is growing directly in the garden and the ivy came back from last season.  I was surprised about that.  It may be due to the early and heavy snow cover we got so early in the season.  The snow probably acted as an insulator.

Umbrella Topiary (grown in 2008 and 2009)

Shaping Up a Plan for Topiary

Lately I've been dreaming up some ideas about topiaries for the garden this season.

Topiary forms in the garden and in home decor interest me. I love the formal shape and the

punch of color they bring to a design.

This one is made on a Styrofoam form, but I have some wire forms on the patio that I usually use for training ivy, rosemary, and mandevilla vines.

This year I'm planning to get an early start with the passion vine and try to grow that on a standard ball form. It really grows like wild when we get a nice hot, humid summer. I hope it will fill up the entire wire top.
This was a Passion vine grown in a previous season. It did well into late September.