We visit gardens (and gardeners) in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut with greenhouses, terrariums, plants, and ideas that were first made popular in the Victorian era.
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At the heart of Peter Wooster’s garden in Roxbury, Connecticut, lies this spectacular Victorian Circle, a popular element in Victorian gardens, in keeping with a broader tendency toward geometric design. A circle like this one is a great way to showcase exotic plants and play with contrasts of color and texture; Wooster’s contemporary version employs a more muted palette than those typically found in Victorian gardens. He uses a mix of tender perennials and annuals, including the three described below.
Krantz aloe (Aloe arborescens) brings height and structure to the circle. Typically, a Victorian Circle will build upward from the plants at the perimeter to a taller central element like this.
Mexican cigar plant (Cuphea platycentra) is a long-blooming annual with an upright habit and delicate blossoms. It fills out the circle, and its pink flowers make a nice contrast to the blue-gray aloe at the center.
Variegated Cuban Oregano (Plectranthus amboinicus ‘Variegatus’) has white-rimmed, fuzzy foliage and a spreading habit. It functions as an intermediate texture between the cuphea and the aloe.
