Pink in the Garden

Sweet Pea

Pink is a very popular colour to use in the garden: some like soft shell pinks, others like bold fuchsias and magentas but almost everyone incorporates some pink into their flower beds.

Pink flowers and blooms are very easy to find. In fact, it's so abundant some may consider it common but most just love it.

Back in the 90's when I did garden design as a hobby business, clients, who had brown/camel brick homes would still cry and whine for me to incorporate pink into the design even their homes would have more complimented by yellow, red and orange shades. The pink would (so) clash but they insisted!

Here are some lovely plants that bloom PINK:

Deep pink Hyacinths will appear in my garden in April.

The magnolia tree flowers bloom with a deeper pink throat and then open to pale pink

A bold spiky fuchsia tulip will appear in May

The crabapple tree in the front yard provides gorgeous cherry pink blossoms and a gorgeous fragrance

What could be more lovely than a hedge of stunningly beautiful pink rhododendrons!

Dark pink peonies surround my deck in June

A deep pink climbing rose

Weigela is such a dark pink, it's almost red

My newly purchased Astilbe chinensis bloomed a deep pink inside with pale pink edging. It looked great near the Sweet William , which is many shades of pink.

Cheddar pinks really add a sharp pop of colour!

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Yellow in the Garden

Gardens need sunshine and what better colour symbolizes the sun than yellow? But yellow, just like the sun, can be intense. Yellow in the garden is not for everyone. But it sure is for me.

Yellow can be found in flower petals, leaves, foliage and branches. Yellow can be butter soft and pale or deep and powerful. If you are thinking of adding yellow to the garden, you should probably keep in mind the same rules we apply to red: shots of colour only or wide swatches in the distance.

The first yellow to appear in my garden will be blooming forsythia bushes. They are at the far end of my property and definitely signal that Spring has arrived. In my area of Southern Ontario, that's usually end of April.

Spring bulbs are next - many different types from the tiny Tete-a-tete to King Alfred to Tahiti.

Small bulbs appear next including Allium moly, which look super under a crown of deep blue Siberian Iris.

I still have a few surviving yellow Bearded Iris - those that haven't been destroyed by borer.

Helenium appear midsummer like yellow daisies.

Yellow roses (and ones that hint of apricot) are such an elegant change to red and pink.

Here's a ruffly yellow begonia - quite unique!

Some of the new succulents I bought last summer had Kalanchoe-type yellow blooms.

Bright yellow mums are glorious in September when so much else has faded.

Black-eyed Susans also signal that fall is coming. And then the yellows of autumn appear in full glory!

Please check out my food blog - the latest post is Grilled Italian Sausage and Zucchini with Pasta.

Red in the Garden

The colour RED is a power house. It can dominate and take over if used too much in a garden but it can also perk up a bland, pale garden with a solid shot of colour.

There are many shades of red: lots of yellow is found in scarlet and crimson. Others have more blue which then make red more of a burgundy wine colour.

Reds can be tamed by placing them closer to silver but if you put them close to white - you get a razor sharp contrast.

Red berries and bark stand out fabulously in winter against the white of snow.

The first red that will show up in my garden will be the small tulip "Red Riding Hood"

Many tulips are red, the most famous being the Darwin tulip. Above are some frilled red tulips that I received on Mother's Day.

The most successful annual I grew last summer was a red fibrous begonia. In the top picture, you see it paired with white and just as they said - it provides a sharp contrast.

The sharpness of Celosia is toned down by the silvery-gray of Dusty Miller behind it.

Climbing rose 'Blaze' is a deep rich true red. An added bonus is its velvet soft leaves.

One year a surprise white cluster rose grew beside the climbing red rose - don't they look lovely together?

Red lilies make quite a statement, especially when they are massed like this.

Maltese Cross self seeds and provides a terrific scarlet shot of colour among yellow Helenium.

Bee Balm or Bergamot is such an interesting red flower with its fountain-like blooms.

My Dad's front yard full of red dahlias in late summer are nothing short of WOW!

These "Burning Bushes" live up to their common name - they look like they are on fire!

Red berries are gorgeous against a backdrop of white snow

And if all else fails, add red cushions in your sitting area. Nice, bright and cheerful!

Please take a look at my other blog, Astrid's Home - no recipe this time but some wardrobe shopping ideas.