Color Echoes VI Color Theory in the Garden

"Color is like food for the spirit--plus it's not addictive or fattening". Isaac Mizarani says it in a nutshell right there!

When I saw that quotation after visiting a friends garden this week, I immediately thought of our old "Color Echoes" threads here on DG. They were so much fun and I thought it might be time to resurrect the concept for an in depth look at our most recent successful plant combinations.

For those who aren't familiar with the term 'color echo', it refers to identifying a particular hue or shade in a plant, in the bloom or in the foliage, and repeating that color in another different plant nearby. If you repeat (or echo) this hue in other details, perhaps a pot or a painted fence or another plant, and repeat the occurrence, the technique will yield a color harmony through out the garden. The color doesn't have to be the primary color of the bloom. It might be in the leaf, or in the tendrils, or a secondary color in the petal that is repeated. Sometimes it's very subtle.

Anyway, this concept has been popularized by the author and gardener Pamela Harper in her book "Color Echoes: Harmonizing Color in the Garden" available (very cheaply) from Amazon Used Books, if you want more info and lots of good pics:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0025481851/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

So who wants to join in?! Let's get out the camera and get some pics! I always found everyone's ideas very inspirational!

Here's mine (actually from a friend's garden): A Tri-color Beech with white, pink and dark green leaves, echoed in the astilbe and the other tall pink flower. And the green in the Beech is also echoed in the leaves of the Japanese Iris. Another echo in this planting is the charteuse of the hosta with the grass.

Do you have one to add?? I hope so!

Thanks for starting this thread, Judy. You and I have talked about reviving this for a while now. I do recall the fun of the past with our Color Echoes threads. There are always new ideas to be seen and appreciated.

Just the green family can be so very interesting with the different shades, different leaves and shapes. Hostas, fern and Lady's Mantle make a nice combination.

It was Pamela Harper herself who suggested this pairing of Euphorbia, hosta and fern with the bright green of the hosta and fern being repeated in the Euphorbia. It worked well.

Great pics, pirl. Often times I forget that greens can 'echo' and that there are so many different shades/hues found in the foliages if one really looks.

Here's another echo that might be a little hard to see, but there is a lavender in the eye of the pink daylily and it is repeated in the stokesia.

And the cream of the other daylily is repeated in the leaves of that speckled leaved plant (that I can't remember the name of) in the lower right.

Are you starting this thread over, or is there a link to the previous one somewhere?

On a previous thread Sanannie gave links to former Color Echoes threads:

Echoes #1 http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/522565/
Echoes #2 http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/525738/
Echoes #3 http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/530057/
Echoes #4 http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/536597/
Echoes #5 http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/540918/

What fun it was to visit all the old color echoes threads.

Pirl, that Euphorbia, hosta and fern combination is so soothing and the textures in your garden are always wonderful.

In this shot, I noticed how the yellow daylily is echoed in the flowers of the sedum and the lilies and daylilies echo one another colors too.

It's a little hard to see, but the Royal Highness lily is edged with a light orange that jut matches Desert Song.

I like this combination of Tiger Eye Spider and the lily Mounte Negro. I've never noticed the orange in Mounte Negro till I saw the two together.

The Dusky Pink Lily echoes the pink in the center of the Plum Peach lilies.

Purple heart, heuchera and Lollipop lily.

Caitlin, you must join in too. The more the merrier and we all get good ideas and take notes on what works.

I just ordered the book "Color Echoes" from Amazon used books. Who can resist when they are asking One Cent plus postage??! (I think I gave my original copy to my sister so bye bye to that!)

I am working on getting my 'greens' and textures working better in our garden, so thanks for all the good ID-ing Pirl. I'm afraid I've been unable to combine them well on my own!

lincolntess, I knew we could count on you for some Lily pairings. It is interesting to look closely at the blooms and pick up the secondary colors.

Here's another pic from the dappled shade garden I visited. The colors seem truer when they are out of bright sunshine, but I don't know how she gets them to grow so bountifully.

Anyway: Yellow centers on the daisies with yellow daylily. The orange of the Asclepias is echoed in the red/orange daylily. And all over the garden she echoes the dark foliage with other blue/purple foliage. This gal is an artist by training and it really shows in her gardening.

You've done a great job, several times over, with your matches, Susan. Is the dark lily in the first photo 'Forever Susan'? Duh! Why not, given your name!

Here she is in with a nameless orange in the background and "I'll remember after I send this post" (the dark one) nearer the camera.

Nice soothing scene, Judy. I also love the changes in height of plantings throughout that area. Long Island has always been my home but it's flat. We think an ant hill is contour!

I just knew it would happen!

It's either Dimension or Dimention!

This brushmarked one also goes well with Dimention.

Edited to make a correction: It's a Tango lily and not brushmarked. Sorry.

This message was edited Jul 1, 2011 12:12 PM

When the sunlight highlights the red in Dimention it also highlights the red in the brush marking of the other one.

Lincolnitess, I am swooming over the lily in the first pic you posted today! What is the name of it? it is perfect with the eyed daylily, and I think "Tiger Eye Spider" would go with these too, but then a solid would be needed to give a bit of relief from all the pattern...

Thanks pirl. I really like Dimention with Forever Susan (the lily in the first photo). May have to get it to add to that bed. Look amost purple and would go well with a lot of lilies.

caitlinsgarden, I got the Forever Susan from Faraway Flowers and it is a nice one. I've decided that the Starlette they offer is the same lily. I grow them both and couldn't tell the difference.

Here's my new dog Ella. She looks good with everything but I especially liked her with these short brearded iris.

And these anemones.

Ella is perfection!

She'd undoubtedly match these 'Eyeliner' lilies:

Japanese iris 'Greywoods Dark Desire' with 'Jolly Bee' geranium.

Hi everyone, thanks Tabasco this thread and the previous ones from 2005 are very inspiring. I am going to search my garden for some color echos, but I can tell you they did not happen on purpose if there are any! :) It makes a lot of sense, now I know why certain plants just look so natural together. ost of my stuff was just plopped somewhere to see if I would kill it or whether a rough winter would. And as I was adding new gardens and spots were open for the poor rootbound seedlings still waiting to be planted in mid July! . However as the gardens establish I plan to move things around so they look better. So this thread will help me a lot! Thanks :)
Oh and I have to ask what kind of dog Ella is? I am in love, she's precious! :)

Serendipity counts, Meredith. I think I have more unplanned matches than vice versa...speaking of which here is the Oriental lily, 'Vice Versa', with my scarecrow for 2011 and the lily matches the hair quite well though she's bleaching out fast!

How about this..is it breaking the rule?

Very nice! I love the scarecrow! I didn't find any echos in my garden at this time. Perhaps further on in summer I'll have some. I know I've accidentally had them in the past but lots of times it's with annuals or biennials, so there's no guarantee the next year. Plus if I have to move things I mess it up! Even though sometimes I'm trying to get more of the same effect.

Like last fall I moved all my Sweet William that looked like Sooty (Burgundy) around my japanese maple because the one next to it looked so nice echoing similar colors. I must have killed most of them trying to move them because there are only two left out there and they aren't where I remembered putting them. Plus a bunch of beautiful Butterfly Delphinium are messing the whole thing up by being too tall and in the way. I just really like those true blue flowers and they seem so happy in that spot, but they don't look that great there.

My scarecrow and I thank you. She's my whimsy in the garden.

It's still fun to look for matches, Meredith, and one may pop up when you least expect it.

It has to be difficult to even consider moving beautiful delphiniums when they're in bloom and you know if you try to work around them by adding new plants then the delphiniums will promptly disappear.

'Firestar' lily really stands out with the yellow lilies behind it. Just love color echoes!

Love the Lily and yellow together! I have a hard time working yellow in so it looks good to me. That looks really good! I looked at some of my photos of last year and like T keeps saying, things just don't look as good in pictures! But to try and give you an idea I have three photos.

The first one is along my front walkway. Last year I let some weedy plants I though were forget me nots go freely and I ended up deciding they were way too messy looking for me. They didn't have very showy flowers like the one used in gardens. Anyway try to ignore those... In real life the way the sun reflects off the Huechera and the JM is very pretty to me. But by this time of year those Heuchera look a bit tired. They will look nice again in the fall though. :)

If you look to the left of the JM in the above picture you can see the Sooty Dianthus, however they weren't open at that time. So here's a pic of them and you can see a tad of the JM leaves behind them. Oh and a stray Poppy lol. I have a hard time pulling self seeders if they are plants I like... even if they are growing in an odd place. Such as a tall poppy on the edge of the border. Just can't pull it! :)

I love how you have the alliums repeated and then the color of Palace Purple there a few times as well as the gray colors!

We really are our own worst critics way too often.

I love that picture!

Then this accident happened when I stuck a bonus Iris from Schreiners on the other side of the JM.. Again the pic doesn't have the same effect as in person.

The second photo is gorgeous as well. Love the dianthus and the poppy looks like a puppy that pops into a photo when we're not looking. It's sweet.

The last one is wonderful as well. The falls of the iris meld beautifully with the JM.

Aww thanks so much Pirl! :) I always look at it and think everything needs to fill in more. Right now I don't want to take pictures in that garden because all the dead bulb foliage (and the leaves that had been stuck under them) is making it look yucky. I need to clean it out and wait for some of the other plants to grow a bit. My two girls have been sick all week so I've pretty much been stuck inside. Soon I will be out there working! :)

Frankly, this is entirely unfair!
33 posts on a single day while us working blokes are working!!!!
It's, like, well, .. it just makes me jealous!!!

Actually, really beautiful pictures from many sources.
I'm eager to replicate some of these (serendipitous) combinations.
I'm already looking ahead to those enticing winter catalogues!!

Ella is a Japanese Chin. I highly reccomend the breed. She is only 10 months old and very well behaved.

Pirl, gorgeous Japanese Iris/geranium combination and also really like the yellow with the Starfire lily.

Pauyl, I think your varigated hosta echoes the colors of both of your other hostas.

Meredith, the iris and the sweet william both look great with the Japanese maple. I think that shade of purple looks so nice with most all colors.

Here are my echoes for the first of July.
I am so proud,my first bloom on Omoshiro a new clem this spring. Its blooming with Coleus Mahogany Giant.
https://picasaweb.google.com/jgentle4/ColorEchosJuly1?authkey=Gv1sRgCOvEq-Kwi_SiBA

Lovely gentle color echos Jo Ann. Very Relaxing. Is the purple and cream lily in photo 9 Purple Reign? What is the lily growing with it?

Not Purple Reign. Nettys pride and Eclipse. They work well together with the bright orange troillus and Rasperry Ice heuch.

Frankly I dont see the difference between Reigh and Pride.

Meredith - the girls come first. You'll have the garden forever.

Weerobin - I, for one, love retirement but no holidays or weekends off. Vacations do make up for some of that.

Nice, Jo Ann!

The pink of the umbrella is picked up in the yarrow here - LOL.