Do the dominant colors in your garden change with the seasons? Mine seem to. Even though I have a wide range of foliage and flowering plants in my garden and just about every color of the rainbow can be found in any given month, some colors stand out at particular times. During what passes for winter here, colors are muted and green and silver tones shine. During the height of spring, blues and mellow yellows attract the most attention. But, at the height of summer, when the sun is particularly intense, it's red, orange and gold that draws the eye.
I picked out some plant combinations and individual plants in my garden to illustrate this.
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This bed dominates the north end of the back garden
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Clockwise from the upper left, closeups of the plants in this bed include: Gazania 'Otomi', Leucadendron 'Blush', Lilium 'Orange Planet', and Lobelia laxiflora
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This photo captures both the far end of the bed shown in prior wide shot and the bed on the other side of the flagstone path
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Clockwise from the upper left are closeups of the shedding bark of Arbutus 'Marina', Gazania 'Gold Flame', noID red Gazania, and Pennisetum 'Fireworks'
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I used Aeonium 'Velour' in the north end of the back garden but these photos feature the same plant in other parts of the garden. How red the succulent gets depends on the amount of sun and water it receives.
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This bed occupies the southeast end of the back garden
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View of the same area from another angle
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Clockwise from the upper left, the highlights are: Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset', and Leonotis leonurus
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And here are photos taken from scattered areas of my garden.
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I have several Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope' shrubs
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These daylilies are on their way out now but they made a splash all this month. They are Hemerocallis 'Persian Market' and H. 'Sammy Russell'.
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The foliage of Crassula pubescens ssp radicans contributes to the hot color theme
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Cuphea 'Vermillionaire' is looking more spindly than this now. It'll get a haircut as soon as the current heatwave abates.
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Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' has finally recovered from the unrequested shearing it received from the gardeners
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This noID Bacopa is very happy despite the heat
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Helianthus 'Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl' also appreciates all the sunny days we've had this month
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Are any particular colors standing out in your garden at the moment?
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material © 2012-2023
by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
I like reds and orange colors in summer. It feels they help counter the blinding glare of the sun. I love your saturated Hemerocallis 'Sammy Russell' and noID red Gazania. In my garden, exclusively black-foliage Dahlias are blooming with either red or lemon-yellow blooms. Deep red Hemerocallis are mostly done at this point and Lobelia cardinalis 'queen victoria' should be sending blooms spikes soon. (I should add that my garden isn mostly a foliage garden).
ReplyDeleteChavli
I inherited Hemerocallis 'Sammy Russell' with the garden and had mixed feelings about it at the outset, largely because it's a winter-dormant variety. Growing plants that are winter-dormant never made sense to me due to our mild-winter climate and the emphasis on year-round gardening but 'Sammy Russell' is the most vigorous and floriferous daylily I have. I've started to wonder if other dormant varieties might do as well here.
DeleteI'm also enjoying the reds/oranges and even yellows right now. Maybe I'm just dreaming of the cooler fall temps. My arbutus is in full shed as well right now, I love the peeling bark with the new greenish bark showing through. You sure can't tell it's been hot there, everything looks lush!
ReplyDeleteI spent 3 hours in the garden early this morning, mostly toting watering cans around, tz...I tried to avoid the sun-bleached look when I took my photos but didn't really succeed, tz. I try to cover all the soil I can too but some exposed areas are looking pretty sun-baked. It's 94F now :(
DeleteBeautifully illustrated, a perfect summer palette. I'm going to have to pay more attention to see if mine changes. At first I was tempted to say it was all green all the time, but I know as the bromeliads color up with the summer sun and heat they definitely change at least one corner of the garden.
ReplyDeleteFlowers do make the seasonal color distinctions more obvious but the foliage in my garden also adds to the color story. The Leucadendrons in particular show color changes with the seasons.
DeleteI would think that in the intense bright light of your high summer, the red spectrum would hold up best? One of my perennial beds in the big garden out back suffers a color deficit for a few weeks in mid-June/July with yellow being dominant. It's changed now that pink astilbe and red crocosmia have livened up the palette. Eliza
ReplyDeleteYes, I think the bright light of summer is a big part of the color story, Eliza. I still have a lot of blue Agapanthus in bloom but they're looking bleached out and shaggy now so my eye slides right by them.
DeleteIt's good you can mark the seasons in your garden through plant colors. Glad Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' is strong again. It's one of my favorites in your garden, although truthfully everything is.
ReplyDeleteI was dismayed when both my 'Wilson's Wonder' Leucadendrons were butchered, Susie. I've spoken to the gardeners before about plants I want them to leave to me but memories can be short and the crews turn over all too often. I periodically consider eliminating their help but that has other consequences.
DeleteFor a hot color palette, yours is quite restrained and sophisticated to my eye.
ReplyDeleteI think that may be because my combinations include colored foliage rather than relying wholly on the more vivid colors of flowers.
DeleteLeucadendrons coloring up again. Hooray 'Wilson' survived to thrive once again. Lovely to see. :) Your Gazanias are also glowing.
ReplyDeleteHere white seems to dominate right now--the Catharanthus and Agapanthus. Green and white--liking that combo more and more--fresh and soothing. I've been walking the garden just after sunrise when it is still cool--best time of the day.
Green and white combinations are lovely, although I have great difficulty limiting my color palettes to that extent, HB. I need to get up earlier to catch the sunrise than I have been. I did manage to get myself out in the garden just after 7am this morning - and I got to the local botanic garden a few minutes after opening at 8am yesterday, which is definitely the best time to visit.
DeleteSo envious of your gorgeous Gazanias and Aeoniums. They really pop. I too find different colour schemes work well to take advantage of the different light levels at various times of year. Our sun is very intense at 3500' elevation so mid-summer hot colours stand out. I like yellow so have to be careful to add other colours and lots of green otherwise it could seer the retinas.
ReplyDeleteHa! I often wonder if I've gone too far with yellow flowers in my own garden, Elaine. I've never considered the impact of elevation on sun exposure but it makes sense. We're substantially lower in elevation (830 feet) than you are but higher than my close to sea level former garden.
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