In this episode of Down the Garden Path podcast, landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing welcome Katie Tamony of Monrovia to discuss Monrovia’s design trends and new plants for 2023. 

About Katie Tamony

Katie’s official title is Chief Marketing Officer, but she really is Monrovia's chief storyteller and trendspotter. She has more than 25 years of expertise in the lifestyle and leisure industries.

Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode:

• Tell us more about Monrovia.
• How do you come up with or research your design trends?
• How do your trends influence new plant introductions? Are you planting more natives vs. ornamentals?
• What are this year's design trends?

Timeless Design Trends and Must-Have Plants

• Reasons for timeless design principles.
  • Design ideas from the past influence our gardens today
  • Timeless design gives your garden longevity
  • Adding new and updated varieties brings a modern twist with more blooms and easier care
• Greek and Ancient Roman Gardens
  • Symmetry, proportion, and balance
  • Creating a serene feeling when you enter the garden
  • Topiary
  • Kitchen gardens
  • Water features
• New trends for 2023
  • Architectural Simplicity
  • Inspired by travel and a love of elegance
  • Limited plant palette and repeating forms
  • Cooler tones
• Garden of Abundance
  • Gardens that are a bit wild, productive, and teeming with life
  • Mixing edibles in with shrubs, perennials
  • Attracting pollinators
  • Increased interest in soil health and working with nature
• Victorian Gardens
  • Introductions of lawns
  • Perennial borders
  • Breeding increases choices for adding colour in the garden
  • Privacy hedges
• New trend: New Victorian
  • Return to nostalgia/classic plants - Roses, hydrangeas, peonies, lilacs
  • Mix of textures
  • Meandering paths
  • Layering
  • New genetics offer more blooms and compact designs that fit anywhere
• Ancient Japanese Gardens
  • Asymmetry
  • Rocks and water
  • Capturing the fragility of our being
  • Meditation
  • Meaning of plants
  • Relaxation, minimalism, and foliage
• Must Haves plants for 2023 – Plants that may not fit in only one category

Find Monrovia online:

• www.Monrovia.com
• Facebook: @monroviaplants
• Instagram: @monroviaplants
• Pinterest: @monroviaplants
• Twitter: @monroviaplants

Resources mentioned during the show

Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden

Down the Garden Path Podcast

Each week on Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes.

As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. A horticulturist and landscape designer, Matthew Dressing owns Natural Affinity Garden Design, a landscape design and garden maintenance firm servicing Toronto and the Eastern GTA. Together, they do their best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.

In their new book, Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and Matthew distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. It's now available on Amazon.

Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube and Patreon.