Experiment with new hues to vary the mood of your plot
Colour can be a powerful mood-enhancer in the garden: it has the potential to lift your spirits or instantly relax you. You can use it to create excitement in one border and calm in another; to make one area seem wide and expansive, another moody and mysterious. Playing with different hues – combining and contrasting shades or deliberately mixing clashing colours to add drama – is a simple way to express yourself. Many of us tend to stick with what we know – whether that’s soothing blues and lilacs or vibrant reds and pinks – but it’s also great fun to experiment, to inject an element of surprise. So why not treat your garden like your living room and resolve to give it a fresh new colour scheme?
Deliberately mixing clashing colours adds a little drama
RUBY, CLARET AND BURGUNDY ARE JUST SOME OF THE SUMPTUOUS SHADES THAT PINCUSHION OR ASTRANTIA FLOWERS COME IN. A COTTAGE GARDEN FAVOURITE, THEY OFTEN HAVE DARK LEAVES, TOO
A WASH OF DREAMY PINKS, FROM SOFT SUGAR TO DEEP ROSE, IS ENDURINGLY POPULAR. HERE, Echinacea
‘RUBINGLOW’ SITS WITH WHITE Ammi majus AND THE RICH PUNCHY HEADS OF Monarda
‘RASPBERRY WINE’ WITH DARK CHOCOLATE COSMOS AT THE FRONT OF THE BORDER. WOVEN THROUGHOUT, AND UNITING THEM, IS THE SOFT FEATHERY GRASS Stipa tenuissima
WARM, GLOWING SHADES (BELOW) – ORANGES, STRONG YELLOWS AND REDS – ADVANCE TOWARDS THE EYE AND CAN BE USED TO DRAMATIC, ENERGISING EFFECT. HERE IN THE EXOTIC GARDEN AT GREAT DIXTER, THE CARNIVAL COLOURS HAVE ARRIVED. THE BURNT ORANGE Dahlia ‘DAVID HOWARD’ PICKS UP ON THE JAZZY BRONZED FOLIAGE OF Canna ‘WYOMING’, WHICH HAS TANGERINE-ORANGE FLOWERS TO COME. DOTTED AMONG THEM IS PURPLE Verbena bonariensis TO PROVIDE A POP OF CONTRAST
SUNSHINE YELLOW DAISIES (LEFT) ARE ONE OF THE TRUE JOYS OF HIGH SUMMER. THE PETALS OF THIS CONEFLOWER Rudbeckia ‘RUSTIC DWARF’ ARE BRUSHED WITH BURGUNDY. EQUALLY CHEERING IS YELLOW Rudbeckia fulgida VAR. deamii, KNOWN AS BLACK-EYED SUSAN ON ACCOUNT OF ITS PROMINENT DARK CENTRE. BOTH WILL FLOWER FREELY FROM AUGUST TO OCTOBER
MIXING OPPOSITES ON THE COLOUR WHEEL – SUCH AS YELLOW AND BLUE – CAN CREATE REAL POCKETS OF INTEREST IN A BORDER. HERE, THE YELLOW SPIKES OF FOXTAIL LILIES (Eremurus) RISE UP AMONG VIOLETBLUE GIANT HYSSOP Agastache ‘BLUE FORTUNE’ TO GREAT EFFECT
LUSH GREEN IS DOMINANT IN MOST GARDENS BUT DON’T FORGET THAT IT, TOO, IS A COLOUR TO BE EXPLORED IN ALL ITS HUES, FROM APPLE TO EMERALD. MIX VARIOUS TONES AND INCLUDE VARIEGATED LEAVES, SUCH AS THESE WHITE-EDGED HOSTAS, FOR IMPACT
WHITE FLOWERS OFFER THE ULTIMATE RESTRICTED PALETTE, BRINGING BOTH CALM AND UNITY TO A BORDER, WITH GREEN AS A FOIL. USE TEXTURE AND FORM TO BRING THE SCHEME TO LIFE: HERE, TALL ALLIUMS MAKE A STRIKING STATEMENT ABOVE LILIES AND ROSES
BLUE HUES ARE A COOL SHADE IN THE GARDEN BUT THERE IS OFTEN A DROP OF RED THAT TILTS THEM TOWARDS LAVENDER OR VIOLET. EITHER WAY, BLUES ARE POPULAR BECAUSE THEY ARE HARMONIOUS AND CALMING. HERE, ERYNGIUMS PROVIDE SPIKY FORM
SIBERIAN IRISES ARE A REAL SHOWSTOPPER IN EARLY SUMMER WITH VELVETY VIOLET-BLUE FLOWERS THAT LOOK AS THOUGH THEIR PETALS HAVE BEEN DELICATELY HAND-PAINTED WITH FINE OUTLINES OF YELLOW AND WHITE. AFTER THEY HAVE FLOWERED, THEIR NARROW SWORD-LIKE LEAVES REMAIN FRESH, PROVIDING INTERESTING FORM FOR MANY MONTHS
VIVID PURPLE IS ONE OF THE MOST USEFUL COLOURS IN A GARDEN, ADDING BOTH DEPTH AND INTEREST. IN SHADES OF LILAC, IT CAN BE COOL AND ROMANTIC, AS WITH THE ACHILLEAS AT THE FRONT OF THIS BORDER. RICHER HUES, AS FOUND IN THE DEEP PURPLE MONARDAS HERE, CAN BE MORE PUNCHY AND VIBRANT