Saturate with Color

So much has been written and said about color in the garden. I find it all overwhelming. As a floral designer first and a landscape architect second, I learned early on that there are no rules about color that can’t be broken. I believe “Go big or go home!” is applicable to the use of color in the garden. Be bold!

My first year in the back room of a busy and stylish flower shop in New York City taught me that all my rules were meant to be bent, if not completely tossed out. As I learned to feel and manipulate the natural flowers, branches and plants in the art of floral display I began a long relationship with the essence of the plant material. One thing to remember is to strive to think as big as possible about our landscapes – growing out of display, flower borders and gardens into the realm of landscape, not ornamental horticulture. So the color in your gardens in a circular path – from the precious connection to a lilac bloom to the birds eye view down from 100 foot high. Understanding how our land connects with the larger story of our environment is the backdrop.

Purple vibrancy.
Phlox, Lavender, Geranium and Creeping Jenny are backed by Agastache.

If you are looking for an all-white or green garden, I am not the one to come to. It can be an interesting study to do one color gardens, I have done them. However I am sure that nature did not put all the fabulous plants and flowers on this earth and then expect us connect with just a few – or just the ones that are local. Nature is a giant paint box and it is too tempting to resist.

A garden is about color – the scene, the light, the volumes of space are all in color. Classic color theory is important to understand, but a personal adventure with color is vital and an integral part to being in a deep relationship with nature.

If the garden areas are close to the house it’s right to match the garden colors with the interiors and exterior furniture. It creates a relationship. Bright vibrant colors at a distance will shorten the sense of space. Yellow and red are visible, even at high noon, from about 200 feet. Blues, purples pinks all read as soft and diffused – almost gray – at a distance. Soft colors are even more diluted in the harsh midday light. To create a sense of space it is best to put soft colors at a distance and the bolder colors close to the buildings. Take a good long look at the distant views and shapes, they will all relate back to your garden color.

Convallaria majalis ‘Lily of the Valley’. Soft acid green and dreamy white in early Spring.

All greens are created equal and change in the different seasons. Except for urban gardens, a garden is seen with and against different shades of green. The early morning soft dewy green is quite different from the noon hazy or harsher tone and evening adds a layer of golden light and deepening hues. Nature’s colors are unique and ever changing, and this gives us a good reason to relax and loosen up about color. For those of us in northern climates, the evergreens change green tones as well — in the winter some look dark, almost black and others bronze or glaucous. Nature uses color in large swathes of the same tone and this is important to understand. But when we are designing landscapes and gardens, all bets are off. Blasts and pops of color can be exciting focal points, as well as bring us emotional responses and connections. Most great garden beds are far more diluted than a true color wheel, they become soft and artistic in the different times of day and seasons. I find the use of color to be highly personal and I respect it as such.

It’s helpful to think of color as a compliment to the garden and the design, not the focus. This will open up new ways to use color and most of all – enjoy it.

Annual Coleus with green variegation blends into a border. A hardworking soldier.
Geranium ‘Rozanne’ adds color from May until October. I love generous plants, generosity in all things is always right.
Lamb’s Ears add the soft fuzzy texture and color. It is hard to resist petting the leaves.
Strobilanthes is a bold, tall accent in a flower garden. It is a sharp contrast to softer colors.
The mix of Casablanca Lilies and Canna Lily foliage adds white, orange and green. Lilies – what a scent!
Canna Lily foliage adds form as well as color.
Fungus on a tree is one of the most beautiful rugged accents in a garden.
Morning light and nature at work At closer view, the stems are purple as well as the blooms.
Orange fades to yellow
Roses in reds and corals create swathes of showy color.
Summer flowering bulbs add color all season.
Phlox flowers are bouquets on their own.
Scavolea blossoms on close view become a water color
Annual Scavolea is highlighted by Creeping Jenny under planting.
Annual Ageratum is generous and beautiful.
The leaves of Ivy and Parthenocissus vines provide contrast.
Japanese Maples add bronzy reds.
Chartreuse foliage ‘punches up’ all greens.
Grass adds many hues of green.
A sea of roses blends pinks and reds. I love roses for their velvety texture and sweet scents.
Lavender blooms are soft purple with an elegant arching form, and the scent!
White Hosta blooms are an added benefit to the glaucous gray leaves.
A study of strobilanthes.
A study of Ageratum.
Red and yellow Asclepias blooms. Hot colors in full sun hold their own.
Variegated Calla Lily leaves compliment the variegated blooms.
This coral beauty is an indescribable color.
Roses in reds and corals are long lasting and fragrant garden plants.
Ethereal blossoms of Calla Lilies are held tall above the striped foliage.
A Water Lily floats above dark water.
The glory of water gardening is the color and harmony, the richness of sunburnt tones.