One color a garden can make
If you have a favorite color, why not show it off in your landscape? A single color garden can look very sophisticated, it can add brightness to a shady spot, or it can be the reason to create a new space around a plant whose color might not harmonize with the other plants in your current borders.
Assess the site to help choose a color. Bright colors sparkle in a sunny border while pastels may look washed-out. Illuminate a shady garden with flowers of white or yellow.
Consider the hardscape. If the garden is near a home, fence, deck or patio, choose a similar or contrasting color. A white fence or trellis emphasizes the dark purple blooms of a butterfly bush or clematis. White-trimmed windows complement a planting of white tulips and peonies. On the other hand, a pink-flowering rhododendron looks dreadful against orange brick.
The chosen color will be the dominant color in the garden, but it shouldn't be the only color. If red is the chosen color, consider plants with the many shades or red, from true red to magenta and reddish-purple to pink. Include a few plants with flowers where red is not the main color like a yellow day lily with a red eye. Placed among red flowers, they enhance the visual impact.
Look to other parts of the plant, too. Red stems of a dogwood, the red bud of a crabapple flower, the reddish new foliage growth of an astilbe, and the red berries of a holly can also contribute to a red garden.
Plan for continual bloom all season. Choose plants or bulbs in the chosen color that bloom in spring, summer and fall. A blue garden could include scilla, columbine, Virginia bluebells and iris for flowers in spring; clematis, salvia, delphiniums and balloon flowers for summer bloom, and asters, leadwort and monkshood for fall flowers.
The foliage of a blue fescue and blue spruce, the blue berries on a Blue Muffin Viburnum, and the fruit on a blueberry bush can also enrich the color scheme in a blue garden.
In a shade garden where white is the predominant color, plants with variegated foliage bring another source of white to the planting. Plant white-flowering Astrantia with a white-margined hosta or partner an oakleaf hydrangea with variegated Solomon's seal and a ground cover of White Nancy Lamium.
A sunny area viewed at night is another outstanding location for a white garden. White flowers set against plants with gray foliage create a dramatic scene at twilight. Picture the white spikes of veronica and shasta daisies nestled in a bed of lamb's ears viewed from a garden bench with a glass of wine after a hard day at work.
Hot colors in the orange-yellow spectrum give the garden a tropical feel. Flowering quince with its coral-orange flowers in early spring, Tiger Eyes sumac with its deeply-divided golden foliage, or Blue Shadows fothergilla with its fiery gold and orange fall foliage are ideal candidates for the bones of the garden.
There are dozens of tulips and day lilies in gold or orange. Poppies, Double Scoop Orangeberry coneflower, butterfly flower, tiger lilies, blanket flower and blackberry lily are also appealing options for an orange garden.
Don't forget annuals. No matter what color your garden, there are always annuals to help carry the color from spring to fall. Many can be grown from seeds or small plants so a small investment pays off colorful dividends from late spring until frost.
Add garden art. Paint an obelisk or trellis if height is needed. Birdhouses and birdbaths are available in just about every shade and hue. Color can also be added with gazing globes and other tchotchkes. Even garden furniture can be painted in your favorite tone. An added benefit to garden décor is it can be moved anywhere in the landscape where color is waning as the season progresses.
The joy of a garden is the glimpse it gives into the gardener's soul. If you have a penchant for purple, let your garden proclaim it. If your heart races for red, your garden should roar it. Allow friends and neighbors to take a peek into your passions.
• Diana Stoll is a horticulturist and the garden center manager at The Planter's Palette, 28W571 Roosevelt Road, Winfield. Call (630) 293-1040, ext. 2, or visit planterspalette.com.