Specimen plant
A solitary plant (from the French “solitaire” for “loner”) is the term used in gardening and aquaristics to refer to those plants that optically dominate a planting as a single specimen. They usually differ from the plants in their vicinity by their particular height, leaf color or leaf shape . Free-standing solitary plants are particularly effective.
Which plants can be used as solitary plants depends on the respective starting conditions. Parks with extensive areas use large trees such as copper beech because of the red color of the leaves, southern beech because of the bizarre growth form or large magnolia trees because of the early abundance of flowers . The species used as solitary plants in front gardens, on the other hand, are significantly smaller. This also means that the selection is much larger. Often one can find small species of magnolia or rhododendrons . Many species can also serve as solitary plants in a perennial bed. In the field of tension between large and small plants, entire stands and even solitaires, a lively, accentuated and yet harmonious garden image can be created in systems of any size, which many viewers perceive as pleasing.
Species that stand out clearly from the other plants by their leaf color are mostly used as solitary plants in aquaristics. Very often these are the red-leaved cultivated forms of the sword plants . But also some species with conspicuous leaf shapes such as the very demanding lattice plant are used as solitary plants.