Contrasting Colours in Gardens and Containers

July 22, 2022March 26, 2023 ~ Loreeebee ~ 1 Comment

Contrasting colours rather than complementary ones make a bigger impact in your garden. Most people tend to opt for complementing colors when choosing plants. I always tell my clients “remember, you are not wearing the plants, they do not have to match!“

Choose colours that are opposite (not next to) each other on the colour wheel (as pictured above) to create some drama.

Use Colour Contrasts in Containers Too

I love using coleus in containers for the wide range of contrasting colour in their foliage. Straight from the nursery, choose from the many options in contrasting colour combinations within the same plant! The chartreuse green of creeping jenny or sweet potato vines make the red tones of the coleus pop in your creations:

For full sun containers, I tend to go for purple, pink, red, blue and yellow for the “fillers” and “spillers.” Their bright colours look so summery and vivid against the various shades of green which are perfect backdrops for “thrillers” and additional “spillers.”

Choose Perennials with Contrasting Flower Colours but the Same Bloom Time

When choosing perennials for your garden beds, instead of picking matching colours, try selecting contrasting colours in plants that bloom at the same time. For example, this yellow ligularis in front of a purple clematis creates a much more eye-catching scenario than two yellow or two purple plantings.

Another great example in my yard is my collection of daylilies I have in a raised bed at the side of my house. From dark wine-red to pale peach, they are contrasting yet compliment each other beautifully!

Foliage with Contrasting Colours

Another trick to make individual plants stand out is to place contrasting foliage colours next to or in front of each other. An example here is the leaves of a purple smoke tree (that just had a haircut so will soon be much taller) behind (right now it looks like it’s inside) the bright green leaves of a hydrangea.

Try some new contrasting combinations in your garden to create some drama. Be sure to send me pictures of your combinations.

Remember, forget the matchy-matchy look, you are not wearing the plants!

June Blooms in Gardens4me

June 29, 2020April 30, 2023 ~ Loreeebee ~ 1 Comment

In my Gardens4u business, I design gardens based on the wishes and dreams of my clients. In a moment of silliness, as I was waiting for Premier Ford to allow me to get back into those gardens, I painted Gardens4me on the archway over the gate to my own backyard garden. That’s because they have been created according to my taste and no one else’s. My personal oasis of sorts. This post focuses on the June blooms in my gardens.

My own gardens are created just the way I love gardens….the style I aim for is called English Cottage Garden. I like when the plants, predominantly perennials with a shrub here and there, blend together, looking like they belong together. It takes a loooooong time to achieve this effect and is never quite “done.” I am always tweaking the look, moving, dividing and adding plants as I see fit. Although purple is my favourite colour in the garden (can you tell?) I do try to add contrasting colours to make each bloom “pop.” A variety of foliage shades and textures is a must too for my desired effect.

The following gallery of pictures is from my backyard. It seems the garden gets bigger each year and the lawn shrinks…

When we moved into this home years ago, the south-facing front yard was in full sun, but a dwarf blue spruce turned out not so dwarf, so I get part sun there now. This allows for a wider variety of plants…

These pictures were snapped just after a rainfall, that’s when they look the lushest. Although we have had an unusually hot June with very little rain (my lawn is already looking parched), next month the real heat lovers (roses and lilies) will be the feature…….stay tuned!

To Knot or Not to Knot

June 6, 2020April 3, 2023 ~ Loreeebee ~ 9 Comments

What do you do with the unsightly foliage from your spring bulbs once their flowers fade and the petals fall off? Some garden experts say you are supposed to leave the foliage intact until it turns yellow allowing the bulbs to store energy for next spring. Others tie the foliage into knots. I had not heard of this trick until recently when a client asked me to knot hers. I did as requested, and it looked quite neat and tidy, but I don’t think will look so nice when they start to yellow.

I tend to plant my bulbs amongst perennials that will grow taller than the yellowing bulb foliage so it will not be visible while waiting for it to wilt and die off.

If you do decide to knot the foliage, the trick (I learned this after several attempts) is to restrict each knot to just a few leaves.