Five Foolproof Colors

You can’t go wrong experimenting with the basics: green, white, blue, yellow, and pink

I always suppose the only way to make a tasteful garden in overcast Seattle was to stick to pastels . So I guardedly blended those soft wraith in mimicry of whatever coloring material theory I ’d scan about most recently . My garden was as leaden as the leaden sky above . Then , one spring morning , I take a trip to my region nursery . After a sodden , homochromatic winter , I was athirst for color . And I found it , in the lurid hue of a huge , healthyCanna‘Tropicanna ’ . Its sheer , pink - striped leave of absence and vivid orange flowers , so unlike anything in my mild - mannered garden , were simply irresistible . Back at place , I placed it in our backyard pond , mess and all , and found that the canna ’s explosive brightness level brought life to all those surround pastel .

In a flash , that canna taught me to disregard nuance or anyone else ’s whim of sound mouthful , and kindled my desire to create a more personally likable garden using the colors I bonk most . Since then , experiment with coloring material has become more rewarding to me than any other facial expression of horticulture . Color is what catches my eye , conjure up my heart , and inspires my planting . After years of playing with different coloring material combinations in sunshine and tone , I ’ve learned that blasphemous , yellow , white , pink , and green are the easy colors to jump with and that , together , they can make a groovy garden all by themselves . And my experiments with these five colors instigate my pursuit of the most ambitious of garden grails : make a garden that reflect my personal sense of gloss .

Green holds the garden together

Green is the rife hue of any garden , but as Gertrude Jekyll lamented , nurseryman often forget it is a color . In fact , green is a rich color with a Brobdingnagian range of fluctuation . This is the color that unifies the garden . Green is not a primary color , but a compounding of yellow and blue , with shade ranging from the near - yellow of lady ’s mantle ( Alchemilla mollis ) through the cryptical , dark cat valium of yews to the blue - commons ofHosta‘Blue Moon ’ . If yellowish green triumph , the effect is of sunlight and affectionateness ; when blue - green predominates , it cools down the garden , creating a sense of distance .

Nipponese garden have long taken full advantage of the range of green . A belt of downy moss , a needled true pine , a pruned breaking ball of azalea ground by a stone , and you have an understated yet timeless garden , all in seasonless light-green . Green can also enliven a garden ; suppose of the cheery lime - green bract ofEuphorbia polychromaor the malarkey of yellow - on - light-green variegation . I always bear tending to the green of foliage , even when I ’m buying a plant for its blossom . And to liven up the garden , I introduce heap of contrast by using a diverseness of plants with dark , pale , yellowish , or disconsolate - green leaves . I also convulse in a bit of variegation here and there for good measure .

Both in gardening and in floristry , greenish flowers are new and try after . And no wonder — fleeceable flowers seem just with every other coloring in the garden . They are the ultimate social , the belle of the ball . Like the green of leafage , the sonant green cups of bell of Ireland ( Moluccella laevis ) or the flared trumpets ofNicotiana alata‘Lime Green’provide a rest period from hotter colors and serve as gentle contrast for cooler color . The consequence is subtle yet advanced .

Use white to soothe or sparkle

White is as misapprehension - proof as a color can be . I use it in bluff apoplexy to liven up up the garden , or in quiet flourish to cool it down . White , if used with some restraint , easily make for a star role . When I put tumid , oculus - trip up white peak like hydrangea or lilies at midway stage , I avoid placing other T. H. White around them for awe they might look squashy or bluish in comparison . Instead , I surround my star instrumentalist with foliage , and allow it shine .

White can also play a supporting role . Smaller white flowers , such asGeranium incanum‘Album ’ , weaving in and out of plantings , perk up other colors . Plants blooming with a haze of tiny white flowers , such as babe ’s breath ( Gypsophilaspp . ) andCrambe cordifolia , create a cushion scrim for bolder , cheeky colors . Those flowered veils can be used to hide something or to create an beguiling , see - through effect . Baby ’s hint , for example , pass water a fine , gauzy dame when planted about the homely root of leggy flora like roses , while genus Crambe calculate good at mid - perimeter so that large , back - of - the - borderline plants can be viewed through its haze of flowers . White is just as adept as a bit ( yet crucial ) player ; remember of the white center sparkling in the center of a purple delphinium . Therein lies the flower ’s buzz , its vim .

Like green , white is actually a whole range of colouring material . Have you ever seek to match a white paint chip ? There are hundreds of tints , hues , and shades of warm or cool gray , yellow , or pink . I avoid cooler , muddier feeling and favor glowing Edward White , such as ‘ Iceberg ’ roses or murphy vine ( Solanum jasminoides ) .

I ’ve encounter that white can soothe or scintillate . What search more nerveless and restful than an all - white garden ? For sparkle , flower of clean Patrick Victor Martindale White and leafage in hues of silvery gray harmonize with all other colour and bring unity and elegance to planting schemes . Whenever a layer or border looks too engaged , I pull out colours and replace them with the simplicity of blanched flowers or lily-white - variegated leaf . Without the distraction of colors other than bloodless , the insidious interplay of foliage colour becomes more apparent , and the configuration and grain of plant are more clearly visible .

There’s no such thing as too much blue

profane vies with white as the easy , most welcome color in the garden and , like white , it performs the trick of both cooling down the garden and livening it up . Blue is the color of fresh water and well-defined skies , yet in nature it often tend toward lavender , reddish blue , or plum tree . Clear , true blue air is the most prized flower color ; think of the imperial blue angel of some gentian ( Gentianaspp . ) , the sky blue of the Himalayan poppy ( Meconopsis betonicifolia ) , or the near - navy of some monkshoods ( Aconitumspp ) . It ’s always worth seeking out true blues and using them over and over for the radiance , gemstone timbre they bring to the garden .

profane recedes in the landscape . It can be used to lure the eye toward a distant focal point or to create visual shadows — picture a puddle of blue - leaf genus Funka . It can also make a tactile sensation of spaciousness . A patio surrounded by a frenzy of blistering - colored crocosmias ( Crocosmiaspp . ) seems smaller than one float in a sea of skirt silvery - profane lavender such asLavandula angustifolia‘Pacific Blue ’ or ‘ Blue shock absorber ’ .

The colour blue angel is utile in leafage as well . Glaucous , or puritanic - green , foliage impart a soothe government note to jarring color contrast . Hostas such asH. sieboldiana‘Elegans’provide large glaucous leaf to cool down the garden all summer .

As with blank , it ’s well-nigh unacceptable to go wrong with blue . you’re able to immix low into any colour scheme and only meliorate it .

Flowers by color

Yellow is effective all season

Yellow is , hands down , the color to bemuse into a mix of works for instant affectionateness and spark . Orange or violent flowers generate the same passion , but often clash with other plantings . And sensationalistic add up not only in flowers , but in foliage as well , making it effortless to add a splash of sunshine to plain green planting or to brighten a patch of tone . Yellow is effective all season , from the first saltation daffodils to the sunflowers and sinister - eyed Susans ( Rudbeckiaspp . ) of fall .

But xanthous can be slippery . A friend late lamented a failed attempt to combine white-livered into her usual color dodging of pink , mauve , and blue flower . The idea of using yellow to sack up commonplace pastels was inspired , but the chromey yellow marigolds ( Tagetesspp . ) and perennial tickseed ( Coreopsis verticillata ) she used were too nervy . The problem is that to most multitude yellow mean rainwater - slicker yellow , a chromaticity that ’s difficult to blend harmoniously with other colors . Had my Quaker usedC. verticillata‘Moonbeam ’ , a pale - yellow cultivar , it would have enlivened her pastel without jarring her nerves . The key to using scandalmongering to bring luster — rather than rival — to other colors is using it in softer shades order from creamy to buttery . I skip chrome yellows , and plant plenty of gold sunflowers and fateful - eyed Susans to bloom along with the purple and deep reds of autumn with which they harmonise so beautifully .

Plants with yellow leaf splash cheerfulness in the garden month after month . It ’s potential to layer yellow into the garden from the tree diagram overhead to the earth cover at your feet . My favorites for foliage among woody plants are golden locust ( Robinia pseudoacacia‘Frisia ’ ) , a large , fast - acquire tree diagram with sagging leaves that bide sunny yellow from spring until frost , and the elderberrySambucus racemosa‘Sutherland Gold ’ , which provide a mid - size , frothy yellow filigree . For background covers , the safe old loyalist deadened nettle comes in a glimmer shade of thoroughgoing yellow ( Lamium maculatum‘Aureum ’ ) .

Pink flatters other colors

Pink can make as a honest neutral . Just as a pale - pinkish mohair sweater outrageously flatters the complexion , so too do soft ghost of pink work out the best in all the deep , drab specter of garden green , from shiny magnolia leaves to deep green yew . Pink also associates easy with almost any tincture of blue angel . And clear , voiced pinks integrate well with nearly everything in the garden — even oranges in the apricot chain and reds that veer toward ruby .

Yet I ’ve heard friends say a hundred times , “ I hear to keep off pink , ” and never understand why . perchance they ’re thinking of sear magentas or , sorry yet , weak , sarcoid pinks . But it ’s easy to avoid those extremes and stick to the range of lovely pinks in between . Think of baby pink , house of cards gum , strawberry ice emollient , or the sonant pinkish ofLavatera‘Barnsley ’ .

Pink with nearly any foliage color makes a pleasing color scheme all by themselves , but it ’s hard to overreach the timetested combination of pink flowers combined with gray foliage — pink roses underplanted with lacy , silvern artemisias ( Artemisiaspp . ) is a classic pairing . Lest pinkish appear old - fashioned , conceive about how cunningly it plays off dark - foliaged plants like purple weed tree ( Cotinus coggygria‘Royal Purple ’ ) , or how it blends with Burgundy wine in a vary barberry ( Berberis thunbergii‘Rose Glow ’ ) .

If pallid pink seem pale , you might keep in mind a brace of tricks to using brighter pinks . First , think that tender pinko , those in which yellow predominates rather than dispirited , better complement most other colouration ; the ‘ Alma Potschke ’ aster ( Aster novae - angliae‘Andenken an Alma Potschke ’ ) is an example of the smart watermelon vine hues that seem to go well with everything . The 2d trick is pick out plants whose foliage serves as a foil for intensely colorful flowers . The magenta pinko of rosaceous catchfly ( Lychnis coronaria ) , for model , is cushion by its silverish leaf .

If you care about mixing pink and yellow , which can be tricky , take a look at how nature has combined the two on the tatty , splashy leave of the ground coverHouttuynia cordata‘Chameleon ’ . Its burnished watermelon pinko , softened with a dose of green , blends beautifully with the buttery yellowish . It ’s punishing to opine anything as idiosyncratic as a gardener ’s favorite curing of colors . Just as the plants and the layout of a garden are typical to its creator , so too is its palette of color . But in most casing the color schema come forth only after a long period of experiment .

In the interim , there ’s no need to concern about getting too technical with color . So bury about chromaticity , shade , saturation , color block , gloss echo , or any of the other possibility of using color in the garden . Color ’s beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder . opt the colors you sleep together most and aggregate them fearlessly . You ca n’t go wrong if you use plenty of blue and livid in both leaves and prime , a generous telephone number of foliage plants to soften and blur the sharpness , and the full range of your favorite colors .

Fine Gardening Recommended product

Planting in a Post - Wild World : Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes

all right horticulture receives a deputation for items buy through links on this web site , including Amazon Associates and other affiliate publicizing program .

foolproof garden colors

Green is a whole range of color. It runs from the acidy, yellow-greens of the Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra‘Aureola’) above to the lush midgreens of the Hosta ‘Frances Williams’ at right to the dark, deep greens of lawn, trees, and shrubs.Photo: Allan Mandell

Gardener ’s Log Book from NYBG

The Crevice Garden : How to make the perfect home base for plants from rocky spot

Get our latest tips , how - to articles , and instructional video recording sent to your inbox .

Signing you up …

Regional Survey Results: Best Flowering Perennials for Sun

Rex Begonias

Indispensable Green

Lacing the Border with Beauty

Join ok Gardening for a free engaging live webinar sport Dr. Janna Beckerman , a illustrious flora pathologist as well as professor emerita at Purdue University and the ornamentals technical manager …

When I spot a picky sand dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few months ago , I knew I was in fuss . With a delicious color pattern …

When we only prioritize plants we desire over plants our landscape painting penury , each season is filled with a never - ending leaning of chores : pruning , pinching , tearing , treating , amending , and fertilizing , with …

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be careful when you enter the backyard of garden clothes designer Jeff Epping — not because you ’re potential to trip on something , but because you might be dive - bomb by a pair …

4 Midsummer Favorites From a Plant Breeder’s Garden

Episode 181: Plants You Can’t Kill

Episode 180: Plants with Big, Bold Foliage

4 Steps to Remove Invasive Plants in Your Yard

All Access members get more

Sign up for afree trialand get access to ALL our regional content , plus the eternal rest of the member - only content library .

take up Free Trial

Photo: Allan Mandell

Get complete website accession to expert advice , regional message , and more , plus the print clip .

Start your FREE trial

Already a member?access

Bold or subtle, white gets attention. The doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatumf.tomentosum) flowers above take a starring role.Photo: Allan Mandell

A sea lavender’s (Limonium aureum‘Supernova’) veil of white calyces adds intrigue to a silveryPlectranthus argentatus.Photo: Steve Silk

Adding blue improves almost any color scheme. The edging of catmint (Nepeta × faassenii) above shows how blue blends amiably with other colors.Photo: Steve Silk

The simple beauty ofAster laevisdemonstrates another aspect of blue—you can’t have too much of it.Photo: David Dvorak

Yellow adds a bit of warmth. A pool of golden dead nettle and the wands of Bowles’ golden grass (Milium effusum‘Aureum’) brighten a path.Photo: Allan Mandell