Creative plant combinations
This stunning garden showcases two "lessons" in effective 鈥� which is to say gorgeous 鈥� landscaping.
1. Silver 鈥� or gray, if you will 鈥� is a stellar transition, easing the interplay between differing colors.
2. Garden art 鈥� in this case, a handsome, painted terra-cotta urn 鈥� can be used not only as a focal point, but as a beacon.
The cherry-lipstick colors of the rockrose shrub (Cistus creticus) seem to be put on a pedestal by the white-flowering campion (Lychnis coronaria 鈥楢lba鈥�) and the downy, ferny foliage of partridge feather (Tanacetum densum).
The color of the rockrose flowers in the background is echoed by a paler version in the hardy geranium in the lower left 鈥� thematic, yet kept at arm鈥檚 length by the cool grays.
Gardener Susan Ryley plans on progressive perennial color in her Victoria, British Columbia, garden, too. The gray-leaved alyssum鈥檚 yellow flowers may have passed, but the partridge feather鈥檚 yellows will soon arrive.
The gray urn is placed alongside the gravel-and-slate, two-toned steps as a signal: Hey, folks, step right this way.
It鈥檚 kind of like a mullet haircut: business in the front, party in the back.
Note: This is an occasional feature focusing on highly effective plant combinations.
