Designing with the colour of plants gives us a chance to influence the mood of a garden. Cool greens on a baking summer's day are refreshing, peaceful.
With so many beautiful blues to choose from we have a chance to make an original and striking planting using blue.
Blue with pink This is one of the classic combinations, soft and pretty pink is enhanced by a touch of deep blue, changing a 'sweet' look to something drammatic, and becomes frothy with pale blues.
Pink roses have been planted with blue delphiniums and campanulas so often that it is a gardening cliché, considered very old hat and overdone. Skilfully executed with is still a wonderful planting, as are pink tulips underplanted with blue forget-me-not
Deep blues with pink, a 'sweet' look becomes drammatic
Blue with orange A striking planting that is lively and bold, without the clashing of many orange schemes or those using contrasting colours. Try marigolds and nasturtiums used with delphiniums and poleniums. In spring grape hyacinths (muscari ) are a wonderful underplanting for orange Fritillaria imperialis, brilliant orange tulips or deciduous azaleas.
Blue with yellow Blue gives yellow an edge, a depth that it lacks on its own. Anchusa italica 'Loddon Royalist' with the mellow yellow anthemis is a lovely planting; deep blue Aconitum used with heliniums, or hiding the naked 'legs' of Lilium 'Golden Spendour'. Geum montanum with caryopteris
Blue with chartreuse Using blue with the lime-green-yellow chartreuse shade is one of the most striking colour combinations. In spring European woods are transformed with the sky blue of bluebells (scilla) with emerging new leaves and wild spurge.
Achemilla mollis is striking with with dark lavender, and Euphorbia wulfenii characias creates a similar contrast when planted with clematis or ceanothus
Colour Contrasts - Blue with chartreuse
Blue with white A colour contrast is that is always refreshing an clean. Many 'white' flowers have a blue tinge of blue-silver foliage. Using blue flowers or blue foliage can bring a luminosity to white flowers. (While white gardens can look lifeless a touch of yellow will lift the look of these gardens while blue will distract from the white theme.) A miniature blue and white scheme that is lovely uses snowdrops (Galanthus) with Iris reticulata or muscari. The scale, different forms and colour contrast perfectly.
Blue foliage with chartreuse
Foliage Blue or blue-tinged foliage provides soft background for many bolder colours, or sets off sharp colours such as chartreuse. Considerable interest can be achieved with blue foliage, without adding fussiness.
Blue structures and furniture One of the easiest ways to add blue - with a paint brush. Blue walls, benches, paving and pergolas. Anything is possible and the intensity of the colour is entirely up to you and not Mother Nature!
Blue, it's one of our favourite colours. It can sharpen and add drama, cool and calm a planting scheme. Have fun with it.
