Garden tours are a great way to see what works and most tour-goers come away from garden tours with ideas that they want to try in their gardens. After seeing a dozen or more gardens on tours this year, I was struck by how important texture is in producing an attractive garden.

Sources of texture are many: boulders and stones, art objects of all types and, of course, plants, plants, plants. Textures can be smooth or rough, spikey or squat, soft or hard. Combing textures can create moods that are calming or exciting. The opportunities to induce feelings are many with textures. The image at the top of this post shows how a creative gardener has created a pond and waterfall using many textures. The smooth stones, sharp points on the statuary and soft edges of the hosta along with the movement of the water give this water feature tons of texture.

A puffy bloom like the one on the dahlia above softens all the plants around it. Combined with its bright color this is an eye-catching plant.

The wavy ridges and fat body of its leaves give lots of texture to this plant. A mixed planter of succulents is a beautiful way to add texture to your garden.

This metal bird feeder is a great accent in the garden. The metal is an unusual element for garden art and the stamping on the metal is striking — a great example of garden texture.

There is so much texture in this garden scene — the rough stones, the sharp evergreen, the fuzzy light green artemisia, the smooth hosta. Together they make a lovely entrance to one of the tour gardens.

Which garden tours were you able to take this year? We love to attend tours and are always on the look out for fun, interesting garden tours all over Minnesota and Wisconsin. We welcome your suggestions!