Yellow and Cerise Pink Theme for the Front Border
(with a bit of deep blue creeping in)
We eat with our eyes but do we garden with them? I do sometimes wonder. Of course, plants don't make it easy for us; they start small, with just a few green shoots which are more often than not, completely different to the expected flower colour. Each flower can be more than one colour itself. It may even have contrasting colours within the one bloom. How are we meant to design our way through creating a garden?
Neutral in Gardening has to be Green
'We must establish the accepted neutrals in gardening'
I've read this morning in an established garden design blog. Well it's pretty obvious to me that in nature the neutral is green. It comes in many different shades, but it's the base colour from which our gardens perform. You could probably select a range of different plants from the garden centre based on them having different leaf shapes and tones of green, plant them in your border according to their eventual height (tallest at the rear) and nature would have your back. Rarely, do colours look wrong in nature. Even colours that we wouldn't use together in our precious interiors, are rarely an issue in the garden. There's a different light, there's neutral everywhere (green) to tone things down and very rarely is there a colour that nature doesn't do well. Yet, still we obsess with getting the colour right.
Pastel Pinks, Pale Blue, Silver and White
How should colour be used in the garden? The truth lies in what you like. Beyond that it really doesn't matter. For many years there was a snobbery that in the best gardens, only cool tone colours such as pastel pink, silver, pale blues and whites were acceptable. This myth was pedalled as an interpretation of the great gardener Gertrude Jekyll's teaching, but in reality she was much more adventurous with her use of colour in gardens than her later so called disciples. Then there was a period of aversion to yellow and orange as too brash. But who doesn't love the first daffodils in spring - what's too yellow about those after a long grey winter?
'Think Like a Florist'
There have been many modern books written about colour in the garden over recent years. The late, great Christopher Lloyd of Great Dixter fame, clearly states that we should focus our efforts on
'growing plants we like and to grow them well'
considering succession, structure and form over colour, allowing the leaves to bring balance. It is Sarah Raven who encourages us to think like a florist. She quickly became bored of the traditional wedding bouquet of pastel colours, instead planting great ribbons and drifts of colour. She avoids the dot-dot effect of single plants in a border which can deliver a similar effect too an impressionist painting.
Foliage First
In my own garden, I am drawn to foliage first. There is plenty of green; we are set on the edge of a farmers field with open views of the countryside. The side of the garden that should be facing the village is lined by mature lime trees, well over a hundred years old. We have green in abundance. But, I have always been drawn to trees with red leaves. My Mum used to say that caterpillars lived in them - she had a great aversion to caterpillars. I could never see her logic and was fascinated with the biology of the leaf colour. I also love autumn colour, maybe because I have an October birthday. Taking this into account, I have always been drawn to plants with different foliage and leaf colour. Planting these in the garden has given me something to hang the rest of the planting from. I go to the garden centre or order seeds thinking, 'what looks good with red leaves? or silver foliage?' It's been a start.
Using Pots to Inject Colour
I'm not afraid of colour. My Dad was a a hobby gardener all his life and loved colour. His idea of a good looking border was as much colour as possible. A cottage garden style perhaps but cottage gardeners did not traditionally plan for colour, my Dad did. He planned for every colour. All jumbled up. This is not my style. I was often uncomfortable with the planting he chose. And yet, there were occasions where surprises occurred. Colours put together by accident but achieving a beautiful pairing or group. This 'no holes barred' colour training has taught me to take risks. If I like it, it can stay. After all, if I don't like it I can move it or not buy the seed next year.
Colour Wheel Opposites
The colour wheel. The centre of all colour planning. Something we should know and embody in all our creative works. Well, not really. Don't get me wrong I love a good theory as a chemistry graduate. But applying the 'triadic' (three colours evenly spaced around the wheel) or the 'square' (all four colours evenly spaced around the wheel) to my garden centre shopping trolley does not appeal. Using colour in your garden should be freeing. Picking something you like and hanging other plants from your star choice. No theory should dictate your garden colour choices; your garden is yours to create as you see fit, using as much or as little colour as you like.
Rose Summer Song with Blue Echinopps
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