The summer plantings in The Garden at Newfields draw inspiration from our exhibitions, and this season we celebrate Resplendent Dreams: Reawakening the Rococo with playfulness and opulence. In this exhibition, three contemporary queer artists—Robert Horvath, Diego Montoya, and Anthony Sonnenberg, were influenced by the Rococo period, a movement in European art, architecture, and design that developed over the first half of the 1700s.

When discussions for this summer’s garden designs began, Resplendent Dreams intrigued everyone immediately. So much color and texture to play with. A lot of creative itches to be scratched. Designs could be built off of color, texture, form, or all three. The folks in Horticulture did not disappoint.

I chose The Poodle Gown by Diego Montoya as my inspiration. My garden design is a love song to THE. DRESS. It's like the Barbie I never got for Christmas as a child. The textures. The form. The colors. I used lots of rounded, mounded plants placed in concentric circles, most of which have ball-like blooms. Globe-amaranth (Gomphrena cv.) for its pink, circular flower form—two different heights to represent the two layers at the dress hem. Sedge (Carex albula ‘Frosted Curls’) for the lower hem of the dress, adding to the rounded shapes. Amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus ‘Mira’), a nod to the dangling bits on the dress sleeves.

Diego Montoya (American, born in Peru, 1982), The Poodle Gown, November 2022, worn by JIMBO, Marabou feathers, stretch satin, rigilene and steel boning, metal and crystal embellishments, silver sequin, 74 × 62 × 62 in. (approximately). Courtesy of JIMBO. Gown © Diego Montoya.

Is it all working? Was recreating THE dress in plants a wise choice? Three out of four elements are working as hoped. The amaranth? Well, it is a little weak. And deer have started nibbling on it. But we have not reached end of season. There is time for the idea to become reality. Time for a boy’s design dream to grow into a gurl’s fantasy dress.

Irvin Etienne’s garden design, a love song to The Poodle Gown by Diego Montoya

Next, Seasonal Gardener extraordinaire Helen Morlock is a genius with pastels. The muted colors of Anthony Sonnenberg’s Pall (We Should be Home by Now) immediately caught her attention. This piece is solid color and texture. Helen caught the color beautifully with her choice of pink caladiums (Caladium ‘Pink Splash’), burgundy and pink copperleaf (Acalypha wilkesiana), and soft pink New Guinea impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri ‘Magnum Clear Pink’ and Roller Coaster Cotton Candy). But for me the amazing thing is she captured the textures of the art piece as well. It is some brilliant work.

The planting in front of Lilly House was dreamed up by Senior Horticulturist Patty Schneider. She took her inspiration from Diego Montoya’s gowns, creations that possess much intricate and delicate lacy work covering the heavier structural elements. Up close, structural plants like cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) with its large, jagged silver leaves and strong foliage of sword-lily (Gladiolus 'Guinea') are very prominent.

Lilly House plantings meld intricacy and delicacy with structural elements

Step back from the planting and the salvia (Salvia farinacea Sallyfun™ Blue Ice), lantana (Lantana camara PassionFruit), and dark-flowered forms of Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota ‘Dara’) create an intricate cover for the heavy forms of the structural plants. Much like the needlework of some of the Montoya gowns covers the shape-based aspects of those designs. This garden is ready to strut down the catwalk.

Diego Montoya (American, born in Peru, 1982), Crystal Catsuit with Half-Gown, June 2019, worn by Blair St. Clair, pleated organza, stretch mesh, glass crystal, bugle beads, metal embellishment, 85 × 45 × 45 in. (approximately). Courtesy of Blair St. Clair. Gown © Diego Montoya.

Over in the Richard D. Wood Formal Garden Horticulturist Leah Coughlin looked at the Rococo Period in general for inspiration which then ties to multiple elements from Resplendent Dreams. She chose cardoons because they get large and grand in just one growing season and for their visual similarities to acanthus leaves, a popular motif during the Rococo period. Horvath’s Room for the Lost Paradise has several elements that include this leafy imagery. Flowers and foliage in pale pinks, pale blues, off-whites, and gold tie into the aesthetic found in much of the fashion and décor of the Rococo Period. Many of her plants were chosen for their bountiful blooms aligning with the theme of excess and exuberance, also expressed within the Resplendent Dreams artists’ dramatic pieces.

Robert Horvath (born Nitra, Slovakia, 1974), Room for the Lost Paradise, 2024-2025, watercolor on paper with wood frame, 10 × 12 × 16 ft. Courtesy of the artist. © Robert Horvath.

Senior Horticulturist Katie Booth was inspired by the curvilinear shapes of nature also emulated by artists of the Rococo Period. For her planting at the Horticultural Society Overlook Garden, Diego Montoya’s pink pom-pom dress in particular caught her eye, just like it did mine. Katie searched for plants with different textures and heights in pinks and purples to have a flat plane representative of the horizontal lines of the dress hem blended with plant poufs jumping up reminiscent of the pom-poms draping from the arms of the dress. Sashay. Sashay.

Come see the Rococo-inspired plantings before the dreaded fall comes.