Hi, everybody--
I have been enjoying all the DG photos of spring gardens, and I am wondering if DGers use 'color echoes', (or repeated color accents with different plants explained in Pam Harper's book) in their gardens, and, if so, which ones are some of their favorites?
L' atelier francais website also explains the 'color echo' concept, if anyone wants more detail http://frenchgardening.com/aujardin.tmpl?SKU=3173076513397520
I have been reading Pam Harper's 'Color Echoes' and Penelope Hobhouse's 'Color in your Garden' for ideas, and I have tried to use some perennials with herbaceous plantings and bulbs but with little success, so I don't have pictures, but maybe you have some to show?
Thanks for your ideas... t.
This message was edited Jun 20, 2005 6:38 PM
"Color Echoes" in your garden?! Pls. tell us your favorites
I have Rosa Albertine growing with Early Dutch Honeysuckle (Lonicera "Belgica"). I like the way the peach blossoms of the rose pick up the pink and yellow of the fading honeysuckle blossoms.
Pamela Harper and the book Color Echoes are just the best. I've been a fan of hers for years.
I've done a few nice combinations but obviously our bloom time is not in full effect yet for me to take photographs.......but it's coming!
Sounds like a great read. I will have to find this one. It seems some of my most successful companion plantings have been accidental. I have a Hot Cocoa rose next to a Diablo Ninebark which is a burgundy foliage and red berry looking blossom which is just glows with Hot Cocoa.
Also have a couple of orange and pink calibrochas and a pink diascia all in a hanging basket that really look great together. I have a picture in the camera but can't find the cable now to download the pix.
Lenjo - Please hunt for the cable!
You are so ready for Pamela! Try the online used books shops - try a few - and be willing to accept one with some underlining or notes. You can't lose for about $12.00 - I paid full price, long ago, and still love it. Bought another one and the concept isn't explained but plants are just thrown together without regard for that magical combination!
We're talking combinations for plants, trees, shrubs, etc. not just containers. She also has warnings about invasive plants and a subdued, but noticeable, sense of humor.
Lenjo- I love my Diablo Ninebark! I think that plant would go with anything! I have mine in a blue foliage bed! It actually has some blue in the leaves and looks just great with my Montana Junipers, Blue Prince and Princess Hollies, Sedum " Brilliant", and the centerpiece - a weeping Katsura tree.
Ivy - you're a Pamela candidate, too! You've already seen the blue in the leaves and it's in a blue bed.
See if your library can scour the local libraries in your county for a copy of the book. My library will take such requests by phone. You may want to try yours.
Here's Albertine and Belgica:
Pirl- I'll keep an eye out for the book- my library is great for inter-library loans.
Some libraries will allow you to buy it at a great price if nobody has taken it out in a year or more. Ask!
That's a super idea. We just had our library book and plant(!) sale. I usually do all my book buying then. You can get books for 25 cents up to $10.00 (mostly the lower price). I always say I won't buy any more ( no bookshelf space left) but then I do. No good gardening books this year though.
I did get some beautiful Geraniums, some Blackberry Wine Corydalis, a Sweet Autumn Clematis, a white Bleeding Heart, and a lovely big Strawberry plant. Oh, and Basil. Unfortunately, the prices for plants aren't as good as the prices for books.
Anyone have a good color echoes type idea for ground cover in this area?
My DH just put down grass seed in the bare patch behind the Juniper and Diablo, but I would like to put in a nice sun loving, hillside type plant around these guys. You can't see them, but there are Siberian Iris, Blue Lilac, Empire Blue Butterfly Bush, 2 Hollies, and a small weeping red Maple in the same bed.
I will gladly go through Pamela's book but a picture would be wonderful. Do you have a friend with a digital camera?
Oops! I thought I put a picture in, but it didn't take - let me try again:
My very first thought would be the Ajuga family: 'Burgundy Glow' is a silvery one with lots of purple and some pink and would be nice around the shrub on the left. For the dark shrub, 'Silver Brocade' would match the darkness. They both have nice blue flowers, here in May, so I guess it would be May for you, too. They spread by runners and are so easy to lift if you want more in another area.
A nice gold ground cover would be Lysimachia Nummularia (moneywort), as it spreads nicely and has a nice round gold leaf.
If you could exchange some more grass for planting area then a few nice daylilies with purples and pinks at one end and then some lavenders and yellows might look nice.
Hi,
First - your katsura is gorgeous. I love it at this stage - before it starts weeping too much and the top opens up. I would prefer to keep this shape - without branches going every which way.
As to your request, you might consider a dark green groundcover. With that, all three of those plants would stand out. I would probably go with a silver and purple scheme myself. Perhaps some artemisia as the primary ground cover with 'Midnight Wine' weigela placed strategically to 'echo' the Diablo. Good luck.
Victor
Pirl and Victor - Thank you both! I think your ideas are great! I was hesitant to ask because I am kind of fussy about the plants I like. I was thinking about Lavender or a Thyme lawn, but they are not very good "doers" around here.
Pirl- I love Ajuga and have some already. I think your idea for contrasting varieties is brilliant! I will probably do it, but have one problem. My neighbor's lawn is close, and I don't know how fond they will be of picking groundcover out of their grass. I suppose we could eventually put in yet another stone retaining wall to keep it in bounds. It is an exciting idea, and picks up all the colors I want.
Victor- I agree about the Katsura. I love this tree and I still think it is the best plant I've ever bought. I tried to get one that was single trunked, staked it to keep it that way, and it is still starting to split this year.
I absolutely love the idea of Weigela! I have several and was looking for an excuse to get Wine and Roses, but when you mentioned Midnight Wine, I looked it up. It is the perfect size, perfect color. I had a friend who also suggested Artemisia, and now that I think about it, maybe Silver Mound would be a good choice. It would match the size and shape of the Weigela, and pick up colors in the other plants. It also stays a nice controlled shape.
I wonder if I could combine these with the Ajugas ?
Thank you both for your time and expertise!
Here's a picture from the other side of the bed:
The red Maple has never really worked there, I put it there to echo the Ninebark, but it is not the right color. I was going to move it, but this year it has become horribly disfigured by disease and/or pests. Very sad. We got it for our 1st anniversary.
Excuse the peeling paint and bits of trellis on the garage - DH is working on it. My initial plan was to obliterate the structure completely with plants!
This message was edited Jun 23, 2005 6:44 PM
And one more to show around the corner:
Was so engrossed in my new garden reading, "Influential Gardeners", that it took a while to get back to the Garden Echoes postings.
Some good ideas here for me, and Ivy's redo is interesting to think about....I noticed on another thread, someone painted the window trim on their house a most attractive french blue and that coordinated so well with her plantings. So, Ivy, if you really got adventuresome, you could try to tie a trim color into your planting scheme, too...
I did practice 'color echoe-ing' with a new planted herb container, but other than that, my floral display is pretty skimpy. Too hot here right now to do anything too creative...
Will post some pics of what color-echoe-ing I discover when the sun stops blazing....Have a great weekend. t.
tabasco: thanks for relieving my guilt. I do love color echoes so much but creative juices are at an all time low so I just planted what I had and after almost 9 hours that just left me drained. Photos tomorrow.
Tabasco- that's a good idea, I would love to do something like that. We are tearing all the aluminum siding off the house, and are trying to decide on a color both DH and I like. The garage will most likely match. DH is VERY traditional.
Here is one that I've done. The Iris 'Blatant' picks up the color of both barberries. It is a even better match than this photo shows.
Victor
victor--love your combo...I did something similar with a Japanese Maple and iris 'taco supreme'....
I have fallen in love with that color combination in the last 2 pics and have devoted an ever increasing area to echoing those colors. Much of the area is in shade and some is in partial sun. I have so enjoyed the progression this spring because it really only started coming together last year. It started with dark red primula with gold eyes, golden moneywort lysimachia, and the dark red tinted foliage of emerging yellow evening primrose. As summer has come the moneywort has only gotten better, while soft yellow daylilies, gold leaved hosta, pale yellow digitalis, the evening primrose, and the Asian, bronze-leaved annual herb that reseeds I think is perilla(?) and chocolate loosestrife have all filled in. The way those colors play against each other is stunning! Neal.
Victor and Tabasco: Wonderful! You should both be proud of it and keep on adding to it.
Those are such striking combinations! I love it because they are ones nobody thinks of.
Please read my review and check out online used bookstores for: Color Echoes by Pamela Harper. She's filled with ideas like this.
Check out Alan Titchmarsh's 'color echo' ideas. For example, if you like yellow, he's figured it all out and all you have to do is write a check! http://www.crocus.co.uk/colours/yellows/
Here's a link to the overview: http://www.crocus.co.uk/colours/
and here's a pic of their 'red' border, with plant ID's which I think comes off nicely, and I don't usually go for red dominated gardens... http://www.crocus.co.uk/plantingideas/?ContentType=Combo_Card&comboID=25
This message was edited Jun 26, 2005 9:49 AM
After I read your post I then went to the links. While it gives an enormous range of each color and such a wide variety of plants, I like it when I can see what brings out the best in a plant, just like the photos by YOURSELF and tabasco. Pamela's book taught me how to look at a flower and find the other colors and use that for the next tree, bush, plant, etc. Lantana is probably the easiest flower to see so many other choices for neighbors.
I added the link I liked best to my Favorites: such a long list now!
I had never even heard of that phrase until I saw this thread! I just did thought of it as good color combination design. Never read any of the books mentioned. I only use books for plant care reference, such as AHS guides. For me, it's much more fun to do these combinations on my own. Here's another one - design a combination that uses seed heads as one of the elements - or the fading foliage color of a shrub, tree or perennial! Another is to design for items that will be placed in the garden seasonally - such as pumpkins or fruit, etc. This takes patience and observation, to make sure you get the timing correct. The results are well worth it.
Victor
I agree that it is more fun to find combinations on your own, but as a fairly new gardener I need inspiration too! I like to look at all the pictures I can, and then forget about them (or copy what I like about them). But I must say my favorite plantings are ones that I came up with on my own, or by accident. They please me the most.
I also like Andrew Lawson's "Gardener's Book of Color".
Yes, I agree, it is fun to make up your own and figure it out yourself.
Just like in learning to paint, though, sometimes beginners like me can learn faster and better if you 'copy' first and learn to look carefully at what others are doing, then take it to the next level. (and cuts down on the learning curve!) ( I always wondered why you would see art students copying paintings at museums.)
To be truly creative, to get to a higher level than what already exists, takes a lot of work and inspiration. I'm learning about that in the 'Influential Gardeners' book.... it talks about how anybody (who has enough money,my words) can put together a collection of plants, but to design landscape and garden as art is a different, more difficult, complex and higher challenge...mmmm...I wonder if that's true...
Anyway, 'color echoes' is just a baby step to that goal, and I can't even get there (to my satisfaction at least).
Happy gardening. t.
p.s. here's h. 'white christmas' with a variegated grass...the white 'color' in each is more interesting, I think... (not in my garden btw).
Another one I am currently thinking about is to do a black / orange / gold theme on a floating planter in my pond to match the koi! Any suggestions? Black taro is one for the black. Creeping jenny is a possibility for the gold, though the gold on the koi is much richer or deeper. Has to be water loving plants, which narrows the field quite a bit. Canna is another great one. It needs to be something that holds the color over the summer - no quick bloomers.
victor--your idea sounds very interesting and quite a challenge...I guess I don't know much about floating planters and how they work...do you have to have bog plants in them?
Another thought, though, about color echoes---if you use the color theme twice, i.e., the planter and the koi, to 'intellectually finish it' try to introduce it at least one more time, perhaps along the bankside...not that I'm an expert, of course, I just heard that in a lecture on color! :-) t.
Already have it with lots of black taro along the edges and some gold variegated plants. The planter will be more dramatic though because you will see the plants right over the fish. And yes, they must be bog or water loving plants. I have two floaters now. I will take some photos and post them. Thanks.
Our garden beds are mostly evergreen since things grow year-round here in Northern CA. I like cottage-style gardening so I like to use interesting foliage as well as flowers. Here the yellow of Lavatera olbia "Aureum" is picked up by (L-R) Variegated Yellow Sage and some Feverfew, the yellow blooms of a Tanacetum, and the more chartreuse-yellow blooms of a Santolina. There's a third garden bed across the driveway that you can't see from this photo, and it has a huge yellow-blooming double daylily as well as a rapidly growing yellow-variegated Sweetgum tree.
The purple of the lavendar is picked up by the violet-blue of the agapanthus blooms which are just starting, and the dark blue of Anagallis Monelli which is closed up due to the foggy conditions when I took this photo. White is used for accent -- from R-L, a little clump of silvery-green lambs' ears (Stachys) is echoed by white glads starting to bloom, a white pelargonium in a pot on the stairs, the small white flowers of the feverfew, as well as a white rose "Margaret Merrill" which was too far to the left to show up in this photo.
Ivy: help with inspiration is so wonderful.
Tabasco: Terrific - this is exactly what Pamela would rave over.
Victor: you could start a fantastic color thread with that question:
black mondo grass, check out dahlias to match the koi, black seed heads on Baptisia but maybe not enough black for you with that one, and another black one in Wayside's Garden - can't remember. Would Heleniums help with the koi color?
Tabasco: I heard or read that you should repeat a plant or the exact color a few times to make a garden more cohesive. If we all lived by every rule we read we might have nicer gardens but we might all be driven insane. I once read that both sides of a path should be of equal height or guests will feel uneasy: tough....luck!
jkom: could we please have photos closer up? Love the golds!
I just got a lovely green/white variegated Euonymus and planted it right next to my Patriot hostas. Same color pattern and very similar leaf shape. They look great together!
This is only a pot but I love the blue/purple mixture.
