The garden of Ida Kaukonen’s home in Espoo has a magical atmosphere. The dark vegetation forms a gothic whole.
You don’t come across a yard like this often. Ida Kaukonen37, in the gothic Espoo garden, black plants are the main focus.
In Ida’s tender care, black lilies, begonias, pansies, pansies, taros, cornflowers, roses and sunflowers grow, among other things.
In addition to the garden, dark-speaking plants grow in the interior of Ida’s home. The collection has an estimate of more than 50–60 representatives of different species.
“Someone would probably say that there are too many of these flowers, but I would say that there are too few,” laughs Ida.
You can admire Ida’s garden on Instagram blackgothicgardenfrom the account.
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The black plants enchanted with their specialness
Ida became obsessed with dark flowers about four years ago, when she went with her partner to look at suitable plants for the garden of the detached house they were renting.
Before the shopping trip, Ida didn’t consider herself a flower person at all.
“When I saw an ornamental sweet potato with black leaves in the garden store, I thought that black plants would look just like me.”
The decorative sweet potato and a few other dark plants made it home through the cash register, and Ida’s plant hobby gradually began to progress.
Ida lived with the idea that black flowers are rare. After researching more about black plants online and in books, Ida noticed that there are surprisingly many of them.
Ida says that many black plants are, for example, dark purple, red or brown in color, but in certain light they can look black.
The plant hobby is part of a larger philosophy of life
Ida likes gothic aesthetics and has been interested in the more mystical side of the world and occult sciences since she was little.
In Ida’s opinion, the black flowers symbolize this particular lifestyle, which mixes elegance, mysticism, magic and a little rebellion.
“I think the theme of night and darkness is a bit misunderstood. I think that if people explored their own dark sides, they would learn a lot about the world, themselves and other people.”
The rarest plants have been found abroad
In addition to black flowers, rare plants have also gradually absorbed Ida.
Ida has bought some of her plants from large Finnish garden stores, and she has ordered some from abroad, for example from Britain and Holland.
“You have to be careful with foreign websites, because there are a lot of scammers, and for example, some pictures of plants may be radically modified.”
Finding a rare plant that she had been looking for and taking it home excites Ida. He has even driven from Espoo to Jyväskylä for the plants.
“It makes you feel good when you have seen time and effort put into something important to you.”
The plants receive tender and loving care
In the summer, plant care starts right in the morning, when Ida grabs a cup of coffee and makes a check round in the garden.
He checks that there are no pests, fungal diseases or traces of burning from the sun.
When watering black plants, be careful not to leave water on the surfaces of the leaves, because the leaves can burn easily when the sun’s rays are reflected on them.
Care routines include watering and fertilizing according to plant needs and picking off dried flowers of some varieties. In summer, Ida changes the soil to flower beds.
Caring for plants takes a lot of time and requires dedication, but that doesn’t bother Ida.
He feels that taking care of plants is the only place in this busy society where you can be with yourself and your thoughts and when everything is fine and nothing bothers you.
“When I take care of plants, my body and mind calm down. I could spend even more time tending to my plants.”
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In dreams, a fairy-tale gothic garden
One of Ida’s most important current projects is to succeed in growing the taro called Black Magic, or Colocasia esclulenta, into an adult plant.
He has noticed that the plants in question are very demanding and dramatic.
“Taros are really cold-sensitive tropical plants. On warm and sunny mornings, I take all 10 plants outside one at a time and rotate their pots throughout the day according to the cycle of the sun so that the leaves of the plants are exposed to indirect sunlight. When the temperature drops below 17 degrees in the evening, I take the pots back inside.”
The first leaves of the taaro have already opened, which makes Ida feel a great sense of happiness and success.
Ida’s biggest dream is to move to a bigger house, which is located a little further away, and to build a spectacular Gothic garden with fountains and various decorations in the yard of the house.
The dream house would have a glazed terrace where Ida could be as close as possible to her hobby even in winter.
Source: kotiliesi.fi
