A Bejeweled Goth Garden

Flowers, trees, features and philosophy to bring alive the year-round goth in you

Oct 20, 2024

Like gardens, plants and a touch of humor? I’d love to hear from you!

I like my goth a bit campy and not *always* literal. Think Noel Fielding in a field of butterflies while waiting to judge some cakes, or Morticia Adams slowly walking through the cheerful halls of an elementary school. There is a vibe, an aesthetic, but it’s often easier to see (and appreciate) the dark against the light.

The article I’m Dying Over Your Goth Garden in the New York Times dove in to this topic earlier this year, starting with an interview with the G0th Garden who talked about her crossover love of both all things dark and goth alongside the delight of gardening.

This is my unconventional deep dive into what I would have in my garden if I was going for a dark vibe with living plants. If you’re reading this in your email, please remember to download images to get the true experience.

Bleeding Hearts

Need I say more? Deceptively cheerful, they embody the reality that love is pain, love is beautiful, life is lush and full in the spring and then dies back to the ground in the heat of summer.

Honeywort (Cerinthe major)

The deep and dark flowers along with the leaves that move in an ombre from lavender to teal/green look mysterious and delicate. To me! In the language of flowers they are sometimes associated with healing a broken heart… so if one walks into the garden with sadness perhaps leaving with a touch of hope is the epitomy of life’s twists and turns between hope and rejection.

Dahlia

A tropical and usually cheerful flower, these flowers do come in a couple of very intense, dark colors. These deep, dark red variety look deep and dark. This could possibly be the “Arabian Night”.

Ninebark ‘Diabolo’

The deep, dark leaves with the white flowers of ninebark (along with a blush of pink) look just right for this theme.

Fallen Petals

Nothing can cause more contemplation than viewing of cherry blossoms falling and then laying on the ground. The Japanese saying—"mono no aware”—is the “awareness of impermanence (無常, mujō)”.

Victorian Feature with Climbing Roses

The romance and loveliness of this scene make me think it is the perfect setting for writing a dark novel or pondering the passing of life from birth to death over a cup of tea.

A Ghostly Forest

Pay no attention to the cheerful family on this path. Moss, drooping branches, ferns and dead leaves complete the look for a dismal, dark yet beautiful scene. Spring will come again, but spring is very, very far away.

Hypericum Berries / St. John’s Wort

St. John’s Wort is a well-known anti-depressant. But these berries that develop after the cheerful blossoms have faded remind us that life is beautiful, but while we can forgive we don’t have to forget.

Trees Protecting You from the Sun

One of the scariest things to the true goth is sunburn. Seek shelter in a grove of towering, majestic giants to shield you from the nuclear furnace of our nearest star.