The Grampound Times
Easter 2007 (Edition 44)
Our community in Cornwall
Colour Co-ordination in the Garden
Gillian Thompson
For the first time this year, I tried my hand at colour co-ordinating some of my beds – the results have been somewhat mixed – it will be sometime before the late Christopher Lloyd (famous for his adventurous colour-themeing at Great Dixter) has anything to fear from me!!!
The work started last summer, when I made a list of plants that were growing in the wrong place and over a couple of balmy days in September these were moved to their new homes. Basically I was looking to create one “hot” and one “pastel” border. To the hot border I moved all the Achillea filipendulina (yellow yarrow) and placed it next to Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ (a bright red montbretia), to this was added bronze fennel (Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’). Whilst Fuschia ‘Thalia’ (with tubes longer than normal, orange-scarlet in colour) is over-wintered indoors and joined the others in late May. These are all backed up by the lime green leaves of the golden hop (Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’) and Cornus alba ‘Elegantissima’, with its pale green leaves, edged with cream and on the whole I am quite pleased with this corner of the border.
The cornus (dogwood) is a large shrub and effectively acts as a dividing hedge or barrier in the middle of the border, so that the achillea corner cannot be seen at the same time as the rest of the border. This gave me the opportunity to try a more tropical look and this was achieved using the large leaves of Canna, Paulownia tomentosa (the foxglove tree, which could grow to 33 feet left to its own devices, but lends itself to being kept in check by cutting down to ground level each Spring) and Ricinus communis ‘Impala’ (the poisonous castor oil plant – so not for use if there are young children about). To the tropical-looking leaves have been added bright red and orange dahlias, orange and red crocosmias, brown-headed Helianthus annuus ‘Velvet Queen’ (sunflower), yellow Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ (large golden-yellow, daisy-like flowers) and the butter-yellow of a Helenium (grown from seed), the gold of Coreopsis tinctoria ‘Seashells’ and the red flowers and purple leaves of Lobelia cardinalis and the bright red flowers of Salvia coccinea ‘Lady in Red’.
Less successful in this composition has been the cosmos – primarily because the seed packet promised me that Cosmos sulphereus ‘Ladybird Scarlet’ would be 18 inches high and have orange/scarlet flowers, but turned out to be a mixture of white and pink over 3 feet high – this colour co-ordination isn’t proving as easy as I’d thought!!! In fact writing that inspired me to cut out the offending cosmos and this revealed a Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfennii, which was buried and which I had forgotten was there.
The new pastel colour border has given mixed results, too. When I moved the plants around, a number of brightly coloured crocosmias were left behind and will have to be taken up and planted in their new home this autumn. But their continued presence in the pastel border is out of keeping. Nevertheless, there have been some pleasing combinations, not least the section, which combines the flowers of Cleome spinosa (the rather unusual spider flower, so easy to grow from seed), Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Sensation’, Lavatera trimestris ‘ Mont Blanc’ and ‘Silver Cup’ (all in the pink, mauve, purple and white colour range) with the purple of Lobelia ‘Tania’. Echinacea purpurea (given the common name of coneflower because the central cone is held prominently above the daisy-like pink petals) has made its own contribution, together with pastel-coloured penstemons and a white everlasting pea (Lathyrus latifolius), no scent but a really showy flowerhead. There is also a grouping of the tall Nicotiana sylvestris (the one most of us think of when we talk of the tobacco plant).
Now it’s a strange thing in gardening, but it often seems to happen, that plants grown from the same batch of seed, sown at the same time, should give such variable results. I planted out one grouping of Nicotiana sylvestris under our bedroom window (the scent is delicious at night) and these have grown to over 4 feet and are simply stunning. The other group, was planted out to give height to the pastel border, but they have stubbornly refused to grow any bigger than they were when planted out, and there is absolutely no sign of any flowers. The latter group is at the base of a hedge and I can only suppose that the hedge is taking more than its fair share of goodness and water from the soil. Ah well, better luck next time.
In my pond border, in early summer/late spring, is a combination, which always gives me pleasure and that is a composition of Iris pseudacorus (the common yellow flag iris); the purple-tinged, new growth of the Ligularia dentata ‘Desdemona’ and the orange-red bracts provided by Euphorbia griffithii ‘Fireglow’. The colours sound rather startling, but they’re not, the effect is subtle and pleasing.
On a rose arch, placed to hide the small patio area from general view, is a lovely, white clematis (I have long since forgotten its name, in truth I do not even recall planting it), but it flowers profusely in early summer and is joined by the white rose, Rosa ‘’Mme. Alfred Cerri è re’ . Both flowers match perfectly in colour tone, but differ in flower shape. Their flowering period overlaps for only a couple of weeks, but what a show they make.
At the front of our bungalow are two raised beds – made to roughly match each other in shape in yin-yan style, though I confess that on the ground this is not obvious. In one of them I am trying for a blue-yellow-white theme. Easy in spring/early summer when a succession of flowers from daffodils to blue irises can be relied on to make the colour combinations. The large, pale-blue Ceanothus thysiflorus Repens is splendid in bloom and later it becomes a support for blue varieties of morning glory (Ipomoea). To one side of the Ceanothus, I’ve planted blue delphiniums and pale yellow lupins. They should look good together and if I cut them right down immediately after they’ve flowered, they should give a second, lesser flush of flower in late summer.
The yellow grass, Milium effusum ‘Aureum’ (Bowles’ golden grass) goes well in this border. Individual plants are soon past their best, but as it self-sows freely (perhaps a little too freely, you certainly need to keep on top of those which have “strayed” too far from the parent plant) there are always replacement to take their place. They look particularly pleasing with a number of blue flowered geraniums, which occupy the same area.
It is early days, as far as co-ordinating colour in my garden goes, and I certainly can’t see myself becoming a slave to this style of gardening, but some of the experiments have bought pleasure and surely that is what gardening is all about?
© 2006 Grampound with Creed Parish Council