ivy, I just cked it out, I love that ninebark. it would be absolutely perfect! I immediately called Bluestone Perennials about it but they told me they only sell it in the spring. I've already started my list of spring purchases. thanks. that is a great looking plant indeed. I might be pushing the zone envelope on this one as it says hardy to z8b, worth the risk. If anybody in z9 grows it, pls share your experience. thanks
'Color Echoes' Part III: Pics from your Garden
Hi, everybody--
My garden is really beat from the heat, and little is blooming but I felt like I had to take a few pics and try to post something of what I've got going in my (color echo) 'Butterfly' garden:
Lot's of hot colors in the orange and yellow range including crocosmia (two kinds) , asclepias tuberosa 'hello yellow' and orange, coneflowers 'sunrise' and 'sunset', lantanas, gerberas, mmmm....let's see, Oh, my short stunted sunflower, daisies various about to chuck it in, and my new baby liatris 'pac...'. My buddleias and a few hemerocallis are still blooming too.
Some of these don't show up well in the collage, but they are in there somewhere and you can at least get the idea...
I have had a few butterflies, too. Mostly swallowtails (beautiful) come out during the hot hours, the others are hiding, I think. And I don't blame them: It's hot as 'billy blue blazes' here, as they say!
Must go out and water (again).
Keep posting. And keep cool. t.
Love the collage and your gardens really look so happy and full of life that it's hard to consider that they don't have the rain they need. You obviously do a good job of watering!
We're at 94 and high humidity and really need rain. Hasn't rained since July 6th and 8th - but who's counting!
Pirl - I've been meaning to respond to your comment on the Barberry & Daylily 'El Desperado' picture I posted above. You pointed out that in your garden El Desperado's eye is almost a reddish purple and it was funny how they behave differently in other areas. So, I've been wanting to show you the difference in two photos taken at different times of day (but it took me awhile to figure out how to do post a side-by-side picture!)
The first one (which I posted above) was taken in the evening and the second one was taken in the morning! The eye is definitely more reddish purple in the morning shot. I've often wondered whether geographical location makes a difference in colours, but now I've learned that the camera/time of day is sometimes a big factor.
But either way, there's definitely some echoing going on, don't you think?
OMG OMG: one for each photo. Fantastic color echoes. I like El Desperado regardless of how it changes but I agree photos in the morning (early), midday and late afternoon are all so totally different!
My favorite time to photograph flowers is 7 A.M. when the daylilies are so happy to be opening and greeting the day.
LOVE YOUR PHOTOS TO PIECES!
BLOW THEM UP SO YOU CAN SEE WHAT A GREAT JOB YOU DID ALL WINTER LONG! Put them in the kitchen, bedroom, hall or bath: you won't be sorry.
Everyone has been busy posting some awesome pics. So inspiring! Tobasco, your collage looks like a big bowl of fresh fruit. Refreshing. Pirl, the hydrangea shot is definitely worth blowing up. Vossner - I'm SO into purple and bronze foliage......just foliage in general! There's not many flowers in my planter box this year (Hibiscus acetosella at far end - will not make it through our winters here).
More foliage: Different textures but the same colour (yellow/green) variegation.
Daphne 'Carol Mackie' and a young Yucca 'Color Guard'.
Sanannie
The barberry is a beautiful complement to the El Desperado!
sanannie: you really do have wonderful taste in plants and in combinations.
yes, sanannie, you do!
Ivy1--wanted to thank you for the links to the australian institute of Landscape designers and the Portland Trib. article on purple leafed plants.
They mention some great combinations and ideas...for instance--to bring out the purple in a leaf try planting purple clematis through the purple leafed plant (as a kind of ground cover for instance). I know of planting clematis with roses but hadn't thought of planting it with purple leafed plants...mmm...
sanannie--as usual, great examples. Your side by side combination is interesting (and pretty).
Coleus is a delight for matching foliage. There's a Huechera to the left rear that matches the maroon in the coleus and the greens go with the Japanese irises.
Very pretty - like jewels!
Thank you. I was trying to think of what it reminded me of and maybe it does have that jewel look. Now to try for diamonds! Actually the following isn't a color echoes but a foggy morning but it could be diamonds on threads.
Diamonds in the mist - breathtaking.
Oh my goodness, what a stunning shot!! What gifts are all around us!!
Wow! I love this thread!
Tabasco- I thought both those sites were really interesting and informative. It's hard to find articles about design that are more complex than curving your garden beds!
Sanannie and Pirl- your plantings look so simple, they make you say "why didn't I think of that?". But in reality, they are very unusual. I will be stealing a lot from your photos when I plant next year!
Here's a pot on my deck that I just noticed was a color echo, but I'm not sure why... It is Clematis Montana "Elizabeth" and Blueberry Ice Bougainvillea and I really like it together, even though the Blueberry was just supposed to be a filler until Elizabeth gets really established. Don't know if you can see it, but the sort of purple or bronze cast of Elizabeth is repeated in the center of the Bougainvillea leaf.
Pirl: I am trying to find out what the flower is in the picture I posted. I do not recall planting it at all, so am wondering if it was a present from a bird. Someone has suggested that it might be a snapdragon, but I am no sure that is what it is.
All of you: Your photos are truly wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
I've been lurking and enjoying everyones creations. I've just put a bed together with red carex, yellow sedum, hellebores (which you can't see very well yet, lemon button ferns (so they'll stand out against the dark hellebores) white dichondra, silver lace fern (It will get about three feet tall). You'll be able to see the red Carex when the ground cover fills in. The tree is a acer palmatum 'Butterfly' but because it's in the shade it stays primarily white. There is another red acer at the end of the bed that you can't see. That's why the red Carex. (the rock picks up the red too). And the goal was to build an evergreen bed in total bright shade and make it work. It was a VERY fun challenge. Took me months of happy exploring.
This was a very good exercise for me. Looking through my photos I've discovered that I'm more of a collector - and I've lost the color patterns in my garden to a great extent. This year I'm still putting a lot of Iris cultivars together with no rhyme or reason but the Daylilies that I'm buying are in smaller groupings of 3 or 5 and I'm trying to be conscious of colors. Sometimes I just get so happy buying plants that I forget.
Doss: both photos are lovely! The second one with the concrete ball in the birdbath is a charmer. Love the composition. Your irises look quite happy there and you'll have to provide us with more photos of your other iris gardens!
As far as the daylilies go - it happens to all of us! We select one, then another, etc. just because we like them and then have to find the ideal spot to put them. Ugh!
Arlene
This is Clematis "The President" with Iris "Conjuration" - an Iris that really did deserve it's Dykes Medal.
There is no match more perfect than that for two flowers.
However, I found one today that was a flower whose stamens matched the guest passing by.
doss, and don't forget your little red (color coordinated) pansy in the first pic!
The foliage planting seems a very interesting challenge. I like the idea of the brighter greens against the red, too.
I think self imposed plant acquisition 'discipline' and garden 'editing' is painful but fun. Adds an element of artistic and intellectual challenge as you suggested. In some ways it's like putting together a puzzle....
After studying this thread the past few days, I have put together some foliage combinations in my front 'part shade' garden, but I can see I need to add some chartreuse or bright plants to liven it up...
Thanks for posting. t.
Love your visitor Pirl.
It's sweet t to thank me - but I'm getting so much out of this and you're welcome - I'm looking through my old photos and seeing them in a new light.
I love colored foliage - not usually blotchy aside from spotted Ligularia. I think that yellow is pretty hard to work with, but yellow in the foliage is very good - although I do love to use yellow. The plants on the path are meant to be peaceful. And the violets are lovely - but I lost quite a few in the new plantings.
I don't know what color the Hellebores are. They are seedlings from a man who is hybridizing doubles - but it's no guarantee that they will be double. It will take a couple of years to find out.
So much for not using yellow. (LOL)
Lovely photo doss. Sometimes you really amuse me :-)) especially when you speak of yellow. It's present in every green available and, to me, it's what makes the green sparkle. I'm loving chartreuse more and more. It's particularly good in shaded areas. Although I'm not a huge fan of yellow flowers I do enjoy the golden hostas and the coleus with the chartreuse in them.
I'll also enjoy a pillow and a light blanket in about five minutes.
Doss, I loved seeing your picture of Conjuration. I have it on my Iris wish list (which seems to number in the thousands LOL) but it is nice to see it in somebody's yard rather than just in a catalog where it could be doctored up so to speak. Your picture is as stunning as any I have seen in a catalog.
I too am a plant collector and since I have limited space I tend to squeeze the latest acquisition into whatever open ground I can find as long as I am meeting its basic light and drainage requirements. Every once in a while I get a delightful combination which I consider pure serendipity. Sometimes the combos are horrific and my punishment is to move the offenders asap.
I do pay more attention to color combinations and texture when I am planting pots. That is one of the things that makes them so fun. Pirl encouraged me to post this picture of a pot I made for the front of the house. On the left is an unnamed coleus, in the middle is 'Glennis' and on the right is a rose form impatiens that is a hot coral color. I added white fibrous begonia and blue ageratum to lighten it all up.
Did you all visit this thread to see some wonderful plant combinations in pots? http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/532673/
More fun with coleus and impatiens
Rex begonias
Last one
NoH20: I'm glad I encouraged you to post the photo by the brick. It's always nice when plants match man made elements. It speaks (to me, anyhow) of being aware of the surroundings and having them blend in together.
The last photo with it's self echoes is grand. Love the coleus and begonias, too! I'd love to see the middle shot of the Rex begonias in with Japanese Silver Painted Fern if they could both agree on the shade/sun situation!
Those pictures were taken in the beginning of July. Each container hangs on the wrought iron rails along the sides of the front porch. I have since added Dichondra Silver Falls to emphasize the height of the containers. I wish I had thought of it back in June so the Dichondra would have had more time to trail.
doss - What a great pairing of that clematis and iris. And your birdbath garden. Love the trellis. I looked at that garden for a long time - it was very appealing and I was trying to articulate why. I think it's because of the textural contrast of the concrete birdbath with all those grasses. Great stuff.
NoH2O - All your pots are stunning. The first one where the container and the brick match the coleous, how smart! And the second one you have double and triple echoing going on. Thanks for the link.
Thanks, sanannie. Wasn't that link fun? Imagine the pots you could make with a whole nursery of plants to choose from. Gee, next year I should volunteer to help Chris plant containers. I would be in heaven!
Doss- I love your planting with the grasses, Iris and ball. It's like a wonderful waterfall, with a fountain in the middle! You say you've lost your color patterns, but I see some skillful echoes there. I also love your yellow daff garden! Amazing combinations of silver and yellow-orange! I would never have thought that daff foliage would pick up the color of Blue Atlas Cedar, or that the Cedar would be echoed in the highlights of the Orange or Kumquat leaves!
NOH2O just crazy about your pix #2 of today and the potted combos in the link you provided. those are some lookers.
After seeing your great photos, am going hunting for them in my yard. echo...echo...echo
Thank you all for your kind comments. The birdbath with the granite ball is really a fountain. But the water only comes up three inches and slides down the sides of the ball. It's a meditative sound.
I love love love the exquisite small foliage works of art that you've created noh2o.
Conjuration also looks great with Sugar Blues and Dusky Challenger - or a dark Iris and a bright blue Iris Sometimes the old ones are really just great. Always in front of a dark background and in the back of the border. Conjuration can get to five feet tall here if it's fed.
Jessh - go away for half a day and so much has happened.
And sometimes it's just a few plants at the right heights that bloom at the same time. Now these are old rebloomers: Harvest of Memories (always tall), Sugar Blues and Immortality (always short). Walking past this grouping when they are blooming you get terrific fragrance.
