Evening Solace Spiral- Has anyone tried something like this?

Hello everyone,
This is my very first post here. I’ve been quietly reading for weeks, soaking up all the kindness and real-life wisdom on this forum, and today I finally worked up the nerve to say hello. My name is Leland. The days aren’t so bad I keep busy but the evenings… they stretch out empty. I sit on the back porch with my tea and the quiet feels louder than any noise.
That’s why I’m here. I stumbled across permaculture videos on youtube one sleepless night and something clicked. I don’t want a big vegetable garden that will stress me out. I want something small, gentle, and alive that can keep me company when the sun goes down. So I came up with this silly-sounding idea I’m calling an “evening solace spiral.”
Picture a little herb-spiral bed (I’ve seen the photos here and they look so cozy), but built mostly for dusk and twilight. Low maintenance perennials whose leaves rustle softly in the breeze, flowers that open or smell strongest as the light fades, maybe a few plants that quietly draw in fireflies or moths or the neighborhood birds for that soft “someone else is here” feeling. Nothing that needs constant weeding or watering once it’s settled. I thought maybe start with a tiny hugelkultur mound (4–5 feet across max) right outside my kitchen window so I can see it from the sink.
I have almost zero experience I killed a pothos once but I’m ready to learn slowly and kindly. Has anyone ever built something like this, even if you didn’t call it a “solace spiral”? What three or four plants would you put in the very first layer for evening comfort and easy care? Any tricks for making the spiral stable but soft on an older back? And most of all… did gardening ever help any of you through the loneliest seasons?
I’d be so grateful for any thoughts. Just knowing other permies are out there reading this already feels less lonely.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart,
 Leland.

Welcome to Permies, Leland! Building something to be enjoyed in the evening sounds really peaceful.

Hi Leland,

Gardening has always helped me get through difficult times. At regular days it helps me to unwind. Interacting with my plants always works.

I have never made a herb spiral yet. Good plants to enjoy in the evening are plants with white flowers or white in their leaves. They really light up in the evening.

For us to advice you on specific plants, it would be best to share some information about the location: soil type, rainfall, sun hours, climat in general.

To create a beautiful garden bed to watch, you need: a pillar; a filler and a spiller. So something high; something bushy, and a groundcover. Choose three different plants that you like. Select for different leaves and different plant structures. When suitable for your location, it will be an instant succes!

I will bet you will soon be adding more plants, or create a second garden bed.

That sounds an awesome idea Leland. When I volunteered at Ryton Organic garden I sometimes helped in the Thrive garden - an area for sensory experience designed for people with altered abilties, and mostly maintained by a group of Thrive volunteers with learning disabilities. There were plants that stimulated the senses by touch, smell and sound, with bright colours and bold shapes. A bird feeder or watering station will attract feathered friends to visit too.
Gardening, and seeing a green area out of the window is known to be good for mental health and physical recovery (patients in hospital who have a view of trees rather than concrete recover faster!). You might like this video from Thrive about 'the cloud gardener' who started his balcony garden during lockdown and finds it helps his mental health.

Welcome to the forum.

Maybe you might want to include so night blooming plants in your spiral:

https://permies.com/t/248140/Night-blooming-flower

https://permies.com/t/58014/plants-moonlight

https://www.marthastewart.com/flowers-that-bloom-at-night-7548322