Orchestrating color echoes--Part II

10/18/2004
Orchestrating color echoes--Part II

In Part I of this article, I discussed the principle of color echoes and how they serve to unify the garden into a harmonious whole. I went on to give you many different examples, with photos, of color echoes using flower color. In this article, I want to go on to discuss how to organize more complex and ever more subtle color echoes between flowers and foliage, and even between foliage and fruit. An observer to these kinds of color echoes will often not realize just what it is that makes the garden so satisfying to look at. These more subtle harmonies combine to weave a sort of interlocking tapestry of color in your garden.



In the photo at right, you see a rather straightforward example of a color echo between the foliage of one species and the flower of another. Here, white Spanish bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanicum) echoes the white variegation in the leaves of the lamiastrum (Lamiastrum galeobdolon 'Florentinum') at its feet. Here, the echo effect could have been further enhanced by choosing a white-flowered lamium variety. At any rate, not only is this an aesthetically pleasing duo, but it is also utilitarian, as the lamium will hide the foliage of the bluebell's foliage as it withers down in early summer.



In another interesting springtime combination (left), black tulips are paired with purple-leafed sage (Salvia officinalis 'Purpurascens'). The deep purply red of the tulip picks up the purple hue in the sage, while white iris offers crisply dramatic contrast to this harmonious pairing. This combination offers an excellent reminder that we don't often enough include the excellent foliage effects of herbs in the perennial garden. In this respect, purple sage is one of the most useful, its silver leaves washed with violet offering harmonious accompaniment to many different plants.



In a variation on a similar color scheme, the rosy clematis blossoms make you notice the rosy-red notes in the gray-green foliage of the redleaf rose (Rosa rubrifolia 'Glauca'). Although you can't tell from this closeup photo, the large rose shrub is being used as a support for the clematis, which is a time-honored way of creating harmonious combinations that obviates the need for a support for the clematis, which simply twines up through the rose. You need to be careful, however, to match the vigor of the clematis with the size of the rose shrub, so that the latter is not overwhelmed by the former.



In another offbeat rose combination (photo left), the hybrid musk rose 'Ballerina' is paired with bronze fennel. This pairing is dynamic for several reasons. First, the mauve-pink color of the rose blossoms seems to be gathered and concentrated in the deep red tips of the fennel foliage. Second, exciting contrast exists between the mounded, rounded form of the rose shrub and the upright form of the fennel, as well as between the dramatic rose blossoms and the delicate ferny fennel leaves.



Here's a color-echo combo (photo right) I'll bet you never thought of: Swiss chard and sweetpeas! In a beautiful rainbow potager, ruby chard is cannily planted at the feet of a teepee of deep claret annual sweetpeas, proving that opportunities for color harmonies don't stop at the borders of the vegetable garden.





At left, a French wildflower harmonizes with a Japanese forest grass. The yellow flowers of Chelidonium majus echo the golden banded variegation in Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola'. This lovely and graceful combination remains effective for months, as the chelidonium blooms from April through September. Both these plants are adapted to moist, humusy soil in part shade.






At right is a much more ephemeral combination, but no less exquisite for its transience. In April in the gardens of the Bois des Moutiers in Normandie, we see pale yellow and orange azaleas singing in chorus with the delicate corals and acid greens of unfurling Japanese maple and oak foliage. The exquisite timing and tender nuances of this color harmony shows us that we are in the presence of a masterful garden designer.




Where is the color echo in this hotly contrasting combination, you might ask. Look closely. The orange alstroemeria blossoms are spotted with deep purple, subtly echoing the rich purple velvet of the smoketree (Cotinus coggygria) foliage. This subtle point-counterpoint helps to stitch together this striking and dramatic combination of bright orange and rich purple.

The dimensions of color echoes in the garden are limited only by your imagination. Finding your own harmonious combinations is one of the most rewarding aspects of gardening. Let your creativity play over the full range of each dimension implicated in the orchestra of color echoes: not only flower color but also foliage and even fruits. Imagine your combinations through the dimension of time, as illustrated by the azalea-maple-oak trio above. And don't be stopped by a change of seasons. A look at the subtle harmonies of the red rose hips with the fall-tinted foliage of miscanthus (main photo head of article) suffices to prove that color harmonies can be orchestrated at all times of the year.

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Products of Interest:
Shade-tolerant--Greater celandine