Garden Designers Roundtable: Color in the garden!

“The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most.”

John Ruskin

Color is the first thing that draws us to a garden. Brilliant blossoms call from across a yard, or stop us in our tracks while driving through a neighborhood. We are drawn to color, to vibrancy. But color can also be used subtlety, to convey mood, depict feeling, or simply to display whimsy.

Let’s take a look at just a few colors, their uses and the messages they convey.

Blue, conveys tranquility and harmony. The blossoms of Geranium ‘Rozanne’ provide a pleasant and peaceful face in the garden.

Geranium 'Rozanne'

White, silver and gray provide a neutral backdrop for more riotous color, and can appear other worldly during the evening hours in a garden on a full moon.

Stachy byzantina 'Helen von Stein'

Yellow is Cheerful and happy, and brightens the spirit, as these Swamp Sunflower do against the autumn color of Spirea.

Helianthus 'Gold Lace'

Red is the color of passion! Rich and full, it quenches the soul.

The deep red tones of Boston City Hall Pavers are matched well with the green and chartruese of Lady's Mantle

Of course within all these colors are many hues and tones, each of which changes the feeling of the original, giving the artist/gardener a wide palette with which to convey a message. And when a designer is able to call upon the colors of the garden’s surroundings and match them within, the garden is forever tied to its place.

The red leaves of the Japanese mapple in the background are echoed nicely by the blossoms of Miscanthus and Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

We’ve touched on just a few colors and their uses here, and now I’d like to hear from you, and how you use color in your garden. What are your favorites and what moods do they evoke for you? Leave a comment!

I’ll see you out in your colorful garden!

Scott

Please remember to visit my fellow Garden Designers Roundtable bloggers, who are also discussing color. Their links are below, Enjoy!