Peonies

I love peonies, but I don’t any. I really should plant some.

I can easily deal without roses or peonies. But it is not MY garden unless it has hydrangeas and Japanese maples. 😊

I love hydrangea. I have a few dozens easily planted in containers. I don’t I have spot for Japanese Maples.

It’s not a garden with out movement, winter interest, native plantings, a meandering path, water and berries for wildlife and a few places to sit and enjoy!

It's not a garden without a gardener.

Yes. True

Sarah, I would like to visit your garden. It sound so peaceful and beautiful

I was going to say the same as Cooper. I’ve gardened all my life, well at least since I was four, and almost never had roses or peonies and never ever had Japanese maples hydrangeas or grasses etc. These are all the responses of people with space. My first own home was a student room. My garden was a window box. Then it was a 10’x 3’ flower bed in a tiny city back yard. Later I had a small town garden mostly given over to vegetables. Now I have a microscopic city garden and I do now have a rambler rose and a tree peony. I have still never had a Japanese Maple or a Hydrangea. But I would contend that every single one of my plots was a garden. To me a garden doesn’t have to have specific plants. They’re just the decor, they’re not the garden. Like a person makes a home, not a particular piece of furniture or decor.

It's a garden if it has whatever the gardener deems to be essential for them. That's why I carefully prefaced my response to clarify MY garden!!

And my garden is indeed quite tiny but I grow an assortment of both Japanese maples and hydrangeas in containers and I've yet to see any garden that couldn't accommodate a container or two. Or more!!

I’ve got lots of containers but ....stand by.... I don’t really like hydrangeas or JMs enough to want to give them space😧. If I had a big woodland garden I might have some.

Oh no! I LOVE HYDRANGEA. What do you have in your garden?

LOL!! Floral, everyone has plant preferences and those they don't care much about, which is why what is essential to make it a garden will depend entirely on the gardener :-) There are a lot of plants many on these forums favor highly that I would not give planting space to because they are too one dimensional or don't warrant inclusion because they just don't pack enough punch for my tastes. To each his own! 😉

True. I don’t plant peonies because for me they are only interesting 2 weeks out of the year.

...love and attention.

And water, lots of water

For me, trees.

Privacy.

Spring bulbs...the promise of warm weather to come. A bright spot in the midst of winter snow or slush. Followed by perennials, annuals and flowering trees and shrubs. I want one of everything!

Me. I don’t have the space but I want everything

Oranges. Lemons in a pinch.

Oh wow. I never thought of that one. Sound yummy

Birds and birdhouses and bird feeders.

It's not a garden without the help. Trust me when I say this.

I could use some help myself

Me too. The first thing I'm gonna do when I win the lottery is buy myself a well paid gardener.

Me too, Christopher!

Fragrance and Vines... whether clematis, Hygrangea, roses, jasmine, etc

Love, escape, distraction. Whatever pulls you away from the rest of the world.

Cats.

Woodbaby * found in the woods)

Charlene

Bat and Lambie

Brothers

And neighborhood cats like to come over. Some like to come over and have babies, as in Bat and Lambie.

Their father, a neighborhood cat. Charlene can't stand him.

Enthusiasm.

It’s not MY garden without a shovel waiting for something to be dug in, out or moved to a better location.

trees..11-8-20..I was thinking trees even before I saw someone else say it..I love every plant that I've planted here but my native trees make this garden special to me..🍁🍃🌲

Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.

Daffodils and really healthy grass❣️

Me...wandering around trying to figure out where I’m going to put the perennial I just had to have with no spot in mind.

Peonies. Even if they only bloomed one day a year they would be worth it.