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Colour is a very personal choice- there are those that love a brightly painted room and those that crave soft colours. And so with gardens, some will plants borders which are a riot of bright clashing colour, and others will choose the effect of soft creams, pale yellow and mauve.
You can enjoy both. At Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, one of the world's most famous gardens, a bright garden planted in the sunset colours of yellow, gold, red and orange sits happily right next to a garden of heritage roses planted in pale pinks and cardinal purple with accents in magenta, cream and silver.
Before these gardens were planted the arch-colourist Gertrude Jekyll had planted borders in both hot and cool colours, carefully graduating the bright hues until they softened to pastels and creams.
The current enthusiasm for bright borders is one which, in New Zealand's clear and bright light, often seems to make great sense. With clear, wonderful light pale and pastel colours can look simply dismal and dingy unless carefully handled. Brightly coloured 'hot' borders seem to fit more with our outdoor, outgoing New Zealand lifestyle.
A border filled with the bright, glowing colours of summer - the hot colours - is a lovely thing, it reminds of days spent at the beach, by the lake. Long summer days of bright skies and sparkling water. The hot colours sing of summer and will make your garden look bright and cheerful.
The colourists tell us that pale colours, and in particular the blues, recede and the hot colours 'advance', or seem closer, making a garden appear smaller and nearer than it is. This can be used to lengthen perspective in colour-graded borders where the hot colours are placed near the entrance to the house and the cooler, receding colours at the farthest end. |
Chaemoneles (syn. 'Japonica') will flower in late winter |
Hot borders today are often planted in their own right, not just as part of a larger scheme, and this reflects our more out-door lifestyle, our move towards more striking and dramatic in our gardens and in design generally. Many gardens in the Californian coast now have brightly coloured walls to enhance a bold planting scheme, or simply as a design statement in their own right.
Often a hot border will really come into its own as summer gets into swing, and the plants will flower until the frosts come. This is, then a great border, to keep your garden going after other borders or gardens have faded into an oasis of green. |
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Gloriosa lilies - wonderful colour in warmer gardens |
Plants for Hot Colour Gardens
Some planting ideas for your hot border- don't forget the roses many of which come in clear yellows and red, brilliant orange.
Spring
- Tulips
- Embothrium coccineum, the Chilean Firebush
- Clianthus puniceus 'Kaka King', the Kaka beak
- Azaleas- try the brilliantly coloured Ilam hybrids
- Narcissi clear yellows are 'Soliel d'Or',
- Euphorbia griffithii 'Fireglow'
- Chaemoneles 'Cardinal'
- Paeonia var. ludlowii
- Camellia japonica 'Moshio' & many others
Summer
- Achillea 'Gold Plate', A. 'Coronation Gold'
- Gallardia grandiflorum 'Kobold'
- Gazania ssp.
- Rudbeckia ssp.
- Kniphofia x parecox the familiar 'Redhot pokers', and the new clear yellow forms
- Crocrosmia ssp.
- Coreopsis ssp.
- Hemerocallis
- Iris, bearded iris varietes
- Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset'
- Papaver nudicale, Iceland poppies
- Papaver orientale 'Rosenelle', 'Mrs Perry', 'Goliath' & 'Feurriese'
- Potentilla
- Fredmontia colifornicum needs warm wall or sheltered position
- Hibiscus Fiji hybrids
- Gloriosa supberba the Gloriosa lily
- Brugmansia sanguinea or Datura
- Rosa moyesii for bright flowers and hips
- Rosa Graham Thomas,'Golden Wings' & Mermaid in clear yellow and gold
- Rosa 'Evelyn Fison', 'Dublin Bay' & 'Loving Memory' in red
More over | |
Gallardias are wonderful late summer plants | |
