How Bridgerton Has Played A Huge Role In 2023's Garden Trends

Dearest gentle reader, if you'd like your garden to become the envy of the ton this season, take gardening cues from Netflix's popular Regency-era series "Bridgerton." The show is behind one of the hottest gardening trends in 2023: the new Victorian garden. "Blame it on 'Bridgerton,'" said Katie Tamony, chief marketing officer at Monrovia (via Garden Center Magazine), explaining the reason why so many gardeners today are attempting to recreate the backdrop against "Bridgerton"'s leisurely romantic strolls, tea parties, and friendly pall-mall matches.

The original Victorian gardens favored colors, fragrances, and beauty. As such, exotic flowers and plants, manicured lawns, masterful arrangements, formal garden beds, and wrought-iron fencing became staples of the gardens from that time. Though the Victorian-era gardens were tended to by a team of design gardeners, home gardeners today are taking on the task of recreating these inspired gardens themselves — one flower, plant, topiary, and garden structure at a time.

With regard to the new Victorian gardens of today, Monrovia's Katie Tamony noted, "This trend is an elevated, maximized version of cottage or cottage core." So to maintain a new Victorian garden, like those inspired by "Bridgerton," you must consider some key elements, such as lawns, fencing, planting arrangement, and ornamentation, to add a touch of nostalgia. Aim for a green, well-maintained, and manicured lawn to enhance the appeal of your outdoor space and prepare a beautiful base for your flowers, shrubs, and ornaments.

Don't shy away from using rustic decorative pieces, including stone structures, fountains, sundials, planting urns, and statues. The flower and plant arrangement is another element that will define the pattern and shape of your planted garden. Examine the height and hue of the flora and their intrinsic appeal from the ground and rooftops to strategize their placement and arrangement.

You don't have to entirely replicate a Victorian garden to incorporate its feel in your "Bridgerton"-inspired garden. Aromatic and radiant flowers can do the job for you. "[One of the key elements of a Victorian cottage garden is] an abundance of cottage garden plants joyfully crammed together with the emphasis on flowers rather than foliage," says Rosie Fyles, head gardener at the National Trust (via Homes & Gardens). You can choose from a wide range of flowers, including lilies, dahlias, ferns, orchids, and roses. Further, modern breeding has made the choices more abundant.

To build your "Bridgerton" garden, plant your preferred flowers based on their height, using smaller flowers first. Increase the size as you keep planting the rows in the back, positioning them close together. If you are enthused to make your garden the focal point of your home, set your flowers in a brilliant, romantic array. Be sure to select perennial ones that last close to two years so your garden will be in bloom throughout the year.