Written under the moonlight by Madeleine Stanford

 

Every fall, without fail, I rewatch Practical Magic. It was (is?) an absolutely top tier sleepover movie as a kid, but if you haven’t seen this iconic 1998 film, I can briefly summarize. Owens sisters, Sally and Gillian (Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman), live with their two aunts (Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing) in a Massachusetts seaside Victorian home. Burdened by a generational curse on their love lives, they make potions, cast spells, and most importantly, have a huge, beautiful garden. Within their white picket fence, the Owens’ garden is an abundant space with vegetable beds, blooms of every shape, and climbing vines, serving as both a working apothecary, and a place where their everyday life naturally intertwines with magic.

 

While we may not have historic New England houses perched by the sea, we can still capture that same magic right here in North Texas. All it takes is a little planning, the right plants, and a whimsical spirit.

Here are 10 plants you can plant right now to turn your yard into a garden where Sally and Gillian would feel right at home.

 

1. Rosemary

Every witch’s garden needs rosemary. As long as you can find a spot with decent drainage (or a container!), rosemary thrives in Texas heat and asks for very little in return. Plant it near your garden gate for protection (just as they say in the movie) and enjoy fresh sprigs for cooking, bundles for drying, or brushing against it when you walk by.

Some of our favorite cultivars: ‘Arp’, ‘Huntington Carpet’

 

2. ‘Amethyst Falls’ Wisteria

While it’s hard to tell exactly what vines they have in the movie, wisteria brings that same charm and you can plant it without worrying about it taking over your yard if you choose ‘Amethyst Falls’. Train it on a pergola or arbor, and you’ll create a dramatic and romantic focal point, a perfect setting for breaking those pesky generational love curses.

 

3. Oak Leaf Hydrangea

Hydrangeas are timeless and feel very New England. The oakleaf cultivars (‘Alice’, ‘Toy Soldier’, ‘Ruby Slippers’, to name a few) are perfect for North Texas, especially if you have a shady spot or a spot protected from the afternoon sun. In addition to enormous panicle blooms, they have large, lobed leaves that turn from green to a bronze and burgundy color in the fall.

 

4. Purple Coneflower

Purple coneflowers add a meadow-like, natural allure to any garden. They draw in bees and butterflies all season, which in itself feels pretty magical. Perfect for a heat-tolerant cottage garden and historically valued for their medicinal uses, they’re an essential to any Practical Magic inspired space.

 

5. Blackberries

What’s a magical garden without something a little unruly? I didn’t include any roses in this list, however, blackberries are *technically* in the Rosaceae family, so I felt they would be a perfect alternative. With delicate white blooms in the spring followed by an abundance of dark berries, their brambles bring a little necessary wildness. The fruit could maybe even serve as a fun addition to some midnight margaritas, just saying.

 

6. Catmint

Catmint is a staple of cottage-style gardens. It adds an ethereal haze to soften edges of pathways or borders, and is often alive with bees and butterflies. Catmint is related to catnip which can be used in herbal teas with calming properties, making it as useful as it is beautiful.

Some cultivars we carry: ‘Walker’s Low’, ‘Kitten Around’, ‘Catwalk Queen’

 

7. Yarrow

This plant has been used for centuries for healing, protection, and divination, so it is an obvious choice for a mystical apothecary garden. It’s tough as nails, thriving in our heat and poor soil. Its umbellifer blooms and feathery foliage move with the wind, bringing texture contrast to mixed beds.

 

8. Lavender

The Owens’ kitchen wouldn’t feel complete without bundles of drying lavender. Many North Texans have better luck with Spanish Lavender, but English Lavender (‘Munstead’, ‘Hidcote’) and French hybrids (‘Phenomenal’ and ‘Sensational’) are easy perennials here, too, as long as you put them somewhere sunny that doesn’t get too much water with good drainage; I’ve had the best luck in a raised bed or a large container. Harvest it for sachets and teas, cut it for arrangements, or dry it upside down for some effortless witchy decor.

 

9. ‘Powis Castle’ Artemisia

With its silver, feathery leaves, ‘Powis Castle’ Artemisia looks amazing in the moonlight. It’s both otherworldly and practical because it’s reliably drought tolerant and wonderfully low-maintenance. In folklore, artemisia is linked to intuition and dreams, making it a plant that feels magical to its core.

 

10. Creeping Germander

To tie it all together, you’ll want a plant that grounds your garden. Creeping germander makes for easy evergreen edging along stone paths or garden beds. It offers tiny purple blooms and creates that sense of a garden that’s lived in, as though it’s been there for generations.

 

Designing Your Practical Magic Garden

There are so many more plants you could choose to fit this aesthetic, so here are some more tips to help design your own magical garden.

 

Choose the right plant for the right place:

I’m sure you’ve heard this a million times, but it’s really the most fundamental part of designing any garden. Choose plants based on the different microclimates in your yard, consider the sun (or lack thereof) and moisture of every planting area. For example, if you want whimsical climbers, but don’t have enough sun for ‘Amethyst Falls’ Wisteria to thrive, you could swap it for Virginia creeper, which would be happy in a shadier spot.

 

Think layers, not rows:

The Owens’ garden feels bountiful, almost overgrown, but in a way that’s still intentional through repetitions of shape and color and thoughtful texture groupings. Combine shrubs, perennials, vines, and groundcovers so your space feels immersive and intriguing.

 

Add personal rituals:

Grow herbs you will actually use like lavender for tea and rosemary for cooking. The more you interact with your garden, the more it becomes part of your daily life and nothing is more magical than simply noticing your garden change as time passes.

 

Embrace the wild:

Don’t aim for perfection. Most plants won’t bloom all year, so embrace the innate ephemerality of gardening; allow the natural cycles of your plants to enchant you, including the periods of rest and dormancy (have you seen how beautiful coneflower seedheads look with a light layer of frost?).  Let the blackberries wander, the wisteria climb, the yarrow spread. Magic is in the untamed edges.

 

 

While there is certainly a specific aesthetic to an Owens garden, the real essence of a Practical Magic garden, in my opinion, is to not fight for dominance over your environment. A Practical Magic gardener works in partnership with the existing landscape and finds joy and lightness in sharing that space with the birds, bugs, and animals that are intrinsic to a healthy, complete ecosystem. In North Texas, that means choosing a diversity of plants that thrive in our climate, while still carrying the feeling of romance and whimsy of the Owens sisters’ world.

A Practical Magic garden isn’t just about flowers and foliage. It’s about creating a space that feels alive, personal, and full of wonder; this garden is meant to be magical for you (and your coven, of course) and it should be a space you want to spend time in. Plant with some intentional recklessness and soon enough, you’ll have your own sanctuary of everyday magic. And most importantly, don’t forget, there’s a little witch in all of us.

 

 

Plant Honorable Mentions

Here’s a list of some more perennials, shrubs, and trees that I think could work well for a Practical Magic garden:

All herbs (but especially sage and thyme), Autumn Joy Sedum, Black-eyed Susan, Blackfoot Daisy, Russian Sage, Society Garlic, Skullcap, Wild Bergamot, Hellebores, Phlox, Augusta Duelberg Salvia, Irises, Jerusalem Sage, Lamb’s Ear, Salvia Guaranitica, ‘Silver Mound’ Artemisia, Dianthus, Goldenrod, Shasta Daisy, Salvia Nemorosa (Meadow Sage), Silver Ponyfoot, White Mistflower, Althea (Rose of Sharon, especially the double blooms), Viburnum, American Beautyberry, Almond Verbena, Mock Orange, Smokebush, Spirea, Elderberry, Southern Wood Fern, Autumn Fern, Soapberry, Red Bud (especially the weeping cultivars), Magnolia, Cherry Laurel, Weeping Yaupon Holly, Mexican Plum, Fruiting Crabapple, Grapes (‘Champanel’, ‘Blanc du Bois’, etc), Figs, Peaches, Plums (anything edible would fit in a Practical Magic garden)