Blooms in your favorite shades

Red is the color of drama, excitement, daring even. We think of rockets' red glare, the Lady in Red who betrayed John Dillinger and zippy red sports cars.

You're not supposed to find a red garden restful or serene. You get charged and find energy for your day.

For the recent Perennial Festival at The Planter's Palette in Winfield, Ellen Lundquist and John Leonhardt designed a spot that went from sun to shade, a common challenge in home gardens.

They started with Jacob Cline bee balm, the very showy Paprika yarrow and Home Run roses, and drifted into impatiens and astilbe Montgomery.

Their contrasting companion color is chartreuse, rather than white, which is necessary among the dark foliage of heucheras and a euphorbia called Bonfire. These would look like a hole without the brightness of the lighter color.

In the sun, the designers used caryopteris Worcester Gold for its chartreuse leaves, and a variegated euonymus called Canadale Gold.

Moving to the shade, the hostas include the gold Stained Glass and golden hakone grass, as well as heuchera with leaves of many shades, including burgundy and mixed red and green.

Here are flowers to try in your red garden:

Paprika yarrow. A very dramatic yarrow blooms with a yellow eye in the center of each red flower.

Jacob Cline monarda. This bee balm blooms in mid- to late summer and is supposed to be resistant to powdery mildew and rust.

Home Run rose. It's truly, truly red and claims resistance to common rose maladies.

Many Planter's Palette staff members selected colors and designed gardens for the company's annual festival.

Here are top plants for some favorite shades.

Pink

Filipendula Venusta Magnifica. Queen of the prairie is a native whose blooms look like cotton candy, appropriate for a garden inspired by the game Candy Land.

Echinacea Pixie Meadowbrite. This coneflower is bright and compact.

Calibrachoa Cabaret Hot Pink. Pick a color and you can probably find a variety of this small, trailing petunia that fits your palette.

Yellow

Heliopsis Lorraine Sunshine. Graham Johnson and Ben Tyznik might still be high school students, but they used this yellow flower with variegated leaves as an accent, just as they should.

Sedum Angelina or Stonecrop. This ground cover with "pony tails" is hard to resist.

Mary Todd daylily. If you're looking for bright and cheery, these large, slightly ruffled and crimped flowers work.

Purple

Physocarpus Diablo. The purple leaves of this ninebark shrub work very well with gold or yellow flowers in your royal garden.

Lavender angustifolia Hidcote. Lovers of English lavender should try this dwarf.

Russian Sage Perovskia. Believe it or not, this sun lover will grow in shade - although not as well.