woman in a white dress holds an enormous, drooping bouquet of dark red snapdragons. Her head and feet are out of frame.

What's the Story on Goth Gardening?

Updated on Jun 11, 2024
By Nora Johnson

What is a Goth Garden?

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds was mentioned in a recent NPR story about the phenomenon of “Goth gardening,” and we’re happy to help you plan yours!

A Goth garden is simply a regular garden that has moody, spooky, atmospheric, and dark elements—maybe even with wrought iron fences, and a ramshackle gazebo or crumbling ruin. Something romantic, haunted, and Victorian. Sort of a cottage garden with a "haunted house" vibe.

How do I Start Planning my Goth Garden?

Whether you want to grow vegetables, berries, flowers, or other ornamental plants, Baker Creek has a wide selection suitable for your Gothic cottage garden! Some gardeners will be looking for black or very dark produce, while others want black and grey and other dark flowers, or spiky, strange-looking plants. As you would with any garden, you’ll want to consider a variety of plant heights, and be sure to choose varieties that will keep your garden growing, blooming, and changing throughout the season. Check out our Goth Garden Collection, or scroll down for a few highlights!

a pale green vase filled with pointy-tipped, drooping, velvety oval pale grey-green leaves and stems with multiple bright pink blossoms and dark purple bean pods is on a blue surface in front of a blue-green weathered tile wall.

The Moonshadow bean hyacinth is a beautiful ornamental plant that looks great in a Goth garden.

Most of all, don’t be afraid to use flowers, vegetables, and herbs in unconventional combinations and surprising places!  Decorative borders are just one place where you can feature dark foliage with splashes of blood red – think kale or lettuce, along with your coleus and other low-growing black or dark purple pansy and viola plants. 

pink glass filled with spiky dark green and reddish-green kale on a round blue-grey table with a saltshaker and, in center of table, a small, brightly painted Russian nesting doll in front of a white brick wall

Unusal shapes and colors, like this Russian Red or Ragged Jack kale, make for interesting borders in your Goth garden.

If you have the right conditions for a bog or water garden, you might also want to consider some carnivorous pitcher plants (we offer rare pitcher plant seeds and rhizomes -- they may be out of stock or only available seasonally, but you can sign up to be notified when they are in stock).

What Kind of Vegetables are Best for my Goth Garden?

We offer so many dark purple, blue, and black vegetable varieties, it’s hard to pick just a few. Some look great in the garden, while others don’t show their colors until you dig them up and get them in the kitchen. Rich in anthocyanins, dark-colored vegetables are delicious and nutritious as well as strikingly beautiful. And some vegetables just look strange; for example artichokes. 

Bright violet round bloom featuring tiny spiked petals with two spiky artichoke globes, dark green with dark red at the center/top of globe, growing in a garden surrounded by spiky green leaves

The Colorado Red Star artichoke requires fewer days of cool weather than other varieties, and will produce easily in its first season.

There are many, many blue, black, and purple tomatoes to choose from, and of course quite a few very dark eggplants, peppers, squashes, carrots, and melons. Some of the darker corn varieties can be dried and used decoratively.

two ears of corn are standing vertically in a green dish; one has the dark purple husks partially peeled away to display pale yellow kernels with dark purple kernels at the ends; the second ear of corn is still in its dark purple husk and another partly peeled ear of corn is lying on the table next to a long wooden kitchen tool. The background is dark pink at the top fading to pale pink

Martian Jewels corn has dark purple husks that will stand out in a garden or dried arrangement.

The Round Black Spanish radish is probably the blackest crop we offer, and its pungent, pale interior offers a delicious surprise hotness. But don’t limit yourself to the darker colors: Blue Hubbard and Jarrahdale are spooky blue-grey winter squashes that will stand out in your Halloween décor, as will the chalk-pale Chinese Miniature White and Flat White Boer pumpkins!

Which Flowers Should I Plant in my Goth Garden?

In your flower garden, you can start the spring with some tulip bulbs (check out Black Hero, Black Parrot, and Blue Diamond; bulbs ship in September) and poppies can be sown in the fall to get an early show of color. Amazing Grey and Hungarian Blue Breadseed look great, but try Black Swan and Pandora as well.  And the exotic pink Giant Rattle Breadseed poppy leaves a large seed pod once the petals fall off the flowers -- looks spooky still in the garden as well as in dried flower arrangements!

A wall of bright green foliage with round, dark purple-black hollyhock blooms is in front of a weathered fence and house with blue sky and puffy clouds above

Add some height with Jet Black hollyhocks (sow directly in your garden before the last frost date in your area).

Amaranth – especially intense-colored varieties like Hopi Red Dye and Love Lies Bleeding – also grows tall and looks great along a fence or garden wall. Sunflowers are great for adding height too, but if the usual varieties are too bright and cheery for your goth garden, go with a darker variety like Chocolate Cherry!

For contrast, consider some white flowers as well, such as Snow White gomphrena – and don’t overlook the spooky, night blooming Moonflower!

If you like to make bouquets of cut flowers, don’t forget to include ornamental grass plants like Black Hulless Barley and Blue Ethiopian Emmer wheat – they add a touch of blue-grey and are great in dried arrangements as well as fresh.

What Kind of Herbs Will Grow Well in my Goth Garden? 

There are also many herbs to choose from. Bronze fennel’s spooky brown fronds are dramatic-looking and get pretty tall, and there are several decorative (and delicious!) basil plants in compelling, dark purples (check out Dark Purple Opal, Persian, and Purple Ball).   The Bullseye toothache plant also makes a spectacular border plant, and chewing the leaf or blossom releases a mild numbness in the mouth.  Freaky!

Closely packed small yellow cylindrical blooms with dark red tops among soade-shaped dark green foliage

The Bullseye toothache plant is another great addition.

Main Takeaways

Whether or not you plant a whole Goth garden or just decide to tuck a few spooky-looking varieties here and there, many gardeners find that it helps to have a unifying theme to make it easier to plan and select from Baker Creek's many beautiful heirloom and open-pollinated seeds. The project is meant to be fun, and is often a good way to involve surly teens and tweens who might take an interest in the "haunted house" look. Choose flowers, herbs, or vegetables -- or combine all three, and don't be afraid to use them in unusual arrangements.