The conception of Plants in Lingnan Gardens
The conception of plants refers to the state of the thoughts and feelings expressed by the plants to become one in the garden. It is characterized by a mixture of scenes and feelings. The landscape of plants in the Lingnan Garden can be divided into the conception of space-time and conception of culture.
嶺南庭園的植物意境
植物意境是指庭園內的植物與所表現的思想情感融為一體而形成的境界。 其特點為景中有情，情中有景，情景交融。嶺南庭園內的植物意境可分為時空意境及文化意境。
Space and time conception
The conception of time and space refers to the changes in the landscape of plants in the garden when time passes. Whenever from the early morning to the late evening; sunny or rainy days; and the change of the four seasons. The couplets on the south side of the "Linglong Shuixie"(玲瓏水榭) in "Yuyin Shanfang" read: "暗雨敲花柔風過柳，晴光轉樹曉氣分林". The words "暗雨" and "晴光" shown in couplets indicate that the weather and the landscape of "Yuyin Shanfang" will change over time.
Plants are an important element in the changes of landscape and seasonality in the garden. The Lingnan Garden has an advantage in this respect. Because of its geographical location, we can have flowers viewing in any season in the Lingnan Garden. In spring, there are plants like Sterculia lanceolate (假蘋婆) and Bombax ceiba (木棉). In summer, there are plants like Murraya exotica (九里香) and Frangipani (雞蛋花). In autumn, there are plants like Calliandra haematocephala (朱纓花) and Ceropegia trichantha(吊燈花). In winter, there are plants like Bougainvillea (勒杜鵑) and Bauhinia blakeana (紅花羊蹄甲). No matter the change of seasons, the plants in the Lingnan Garden remain beautiful.
時空意境
時空意境是指通過時間的推移，庭園中的植物景觀也會隨之產生變化，例如在晨早黃昏，晴天雨天，甚至四季的更替。餘蔭山房中「玲瓏水榭」南側的對聯寫道：「暗雨敲花柔風過柳，晴光轉樹曉氣分林。」對聯中的「暗雨」及「晴光」二組詞語道出了餘蔭山房的氣象景觀會因時間的推移而有所不同。
植物作為於庭園中呈現不同景觀及季節變化的重要元素，嶺南庭園在這方面可謂佔盡優勢。因其地理位置，嶺南庭園「四季繁花」，無論在哪個季節都有花可供觀賞。例如在春天，有假蘋婆，木棉；夏天有九里香，雞蛋花等；秋天有朱纓花，吊燈花 等；冬天則有勒杜鵑，紅花羊蹄甲等。可見無論於哪個季節的轉變，嶺南庭園的植物依然保持色彩明麗。
Cultural conception
In the Lingnan gardens, the plants have different colours and postures. People usually imagine and compare the characteristics of those plants. As to give them cultural connotations the carriers of emotions. The cultural context of the four famous gardens in the Lingnan region can be divided into three main types:
Praise for the virtue:
The plants used related to this conception is commonly used to express the good character and virtues of the owner of the garden. In the "Keyuan Garden" and "Yuyin Shanfang", orchids (蘭花) are often potted because the symbol and meaning of the orchid itself are elegant and can be used to represent the owner of the garden.
Practicality and beauty:
Most of the plants related to this conception are the fruit trees where can be commonly found in gardens in the south of China, such as the tree of the Dimocarpus longan (龍眼樹) and Litchi chinensis (荔枝樹). These fruit trees are ornamental and edible and have an ornamental and practical effect.
The culture of folkways:
Lingnan culture has a long history, especially in folk cultures such as the food customs and social customs. Apart from its elegant gardening culture, the Lingnan Garden also contains the folk culture of the Lingnan region. For example, banyan trees(榕樹) are planted in gardens in the Lingnan region because they are the geomantic trees in the Lingnan culture. Some plants in the Lingnan Garden were having their own meaning. For example, the Punica granatum (石榴) means fertility, and the Eriobotrya japonica (枇把) symbolizes abundance.
文化意境
在庭園中，植物的色彩及姿態都各有不同，人們會對這些植物的特徵作出聯想及比擬，為其注入文化內涵，或成為情感的載體。而嶺南四大名園的文化意境可大致分為以下三種：
比德賞頌：
此意境所使用的植物一般用以表達園主良好品格及美德。例如於可園及餘蔭山房，栽種蘭花的盆栽較多，因為蘭花本身是的花語是高潔與典雅，能用以比喻園主。
形實兼麗：
此意境所使用的植物大部份皆為嶺南庭園內常見的果樹，例如龍眼樹，荔枝樹等。皆因這些果樹既可觀賞，樹上的果實又可供人食用，達到觀賞與實用並存的效果。
民俗文化：
嶺南文化源遠流長，尤其於民俗文化方面，例如飲食風俗，社會風俗等。嶺南庭園除了有其高雅的庭園文化外，同時亦有包含嶺南的民俗文化，達至雅俗共賞的特徵。例如嶺南庭園皆有種植榕樹，因為榕樹是嶺南文化內的風水樹。而嶺南庭園內某些植物亦有一此寓意或特別意思，例如石榴寓意多子多福，枇杷象徵富足等。