It’s official. Less is no longer more. Forget pastels and subtle tone-on-tone
colour combinations: the latest hot horticultural look is a glorious clash
of regal purple, royal blue, scarlet, vermilion, magenta, tangerine, lime
and egg-yolk yellow.
Such strong combinations were key elements in many of the medal-winning show
gardens at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Mixtures such as purple
salvias, sunny yellow aquilegias and orange geums sound shocking, but they
looked fantastic – proving that, when it is done well, a deliberate colour
clash can be exhilarating to look at.
Most of us are used to gently graduated tonal planting, a subtle flow of one
colour to the next. This has been the horticultural goal for so long, it
goes against the grain to spice things up. But change is the lifeblood of
any garden, and swapping safe for daring will give yours a new lease of
life, instantly updating and refreshing it. If you are nervous, try it out
in a small section first: just a large pot filled with a blaze of clashing
plants will give you a taste for more.
Once your eye is accustomed to a wide palette of brights, there seems to be a
mystifying range to choose from. Not all will meet the demands of successful
clashing. It is the depth and intensity of the flower colour that matters.
Look for clear, true hues, unmuddied by shading or feathering into a paler
tone. They should glow and, in the case of reds, really pack a punch.
The key to achieving the look is how plants are placed. Large blocks of a
single bright colour may be striking, but it is only when colours are mixed
in unexpected groupings that you get the full effect – the sensory
equivalent of being hit in the solar plexus. The key word is contrast, but
that doesn’t mean throwing any old plants together. The combinations must
look challenging and fresh, yet retain an effortless, casual look – you may
need to experiment at some length to get this right.
Some combinations seem made for one another. The intense contrast of deep
purple and bright orange is particularly effective, but variations on that
theme are also popular. Yves Klein blue cornflowers and Salvia guaranitica
with scarlet ladybird poppies ( Papaver commutatum) were used to great
effect in the Around & About show garden designed by Darren Rudge and
Helen Wood for the Gardeners’ World Live exhibition in Birmingham last
month. The combination makes an eye-catching ensemble in a sunny spot.
The shape, scale and outline of the plants is important. Unwieldy clumps of
brightly coloured perennials paired with flashy hybrid tea roses would seem
to have all the elements of successful colour clashing, but there’s simply
too much going on. Using two or more plants that are dominant in size and
colour in close proximity can be overwhelming. The size of the individual
flowers also matters. Small, bright buttons, daisies and pom-poms on narrow
stems will dance among slender vertical spikes, allowing their contrasting
colours to mix properly.
Don’t neglect fresh, acid green: a dash of chartreuse or lime will spice up
reds, oranges, blues and purples. Yellow does the same job, particularly
intense, saturated tones or zesty lemons. Don’t be heavy-handed, though –
use either green or yellow flowers to provide a counterpoint, but not both.
Pinpricks of white can bring the whole colour scheme to life. A scattering of
small white flowers will add vivacity to a rich palette of orange and
purple. The umbelliferous annual Orlaya grandiflora – much loved by top
designers, including Tom Stuart-Smith and Jinny Blom – is perfect for the
job.
Bulbous plants give flowers with fabulous colour-clash potential, and their
prolonged flowering periods mean you can enjoy them for longer. From the
rich gold of the earliest daffodils to the fiery orange, red and magenta of
end-of-season dahlias, there need never be a dull moment. I particularly
like the bright-orange tulip ‘Ballerina’ when grown through Euphorbia
myrsinites, which has lime flowers that snake across the ground.
In a small garden, be brave and adopt the look across the entire space. If you
play safe and stick with pastels in one area, the result will probably be
too diluted to achieve a “wow” factor. On a large scale, however, a
relentless onslaught of strong colours can be tiring to look at. Adding
blocks of plain green foliage – box or yew would be perfect – as a backdrop
or among perennials helps to ground the display and give the eye somewhere
to rest. Softening and blending plants, including grasses such as Stipa
tenuissima or frothy bronze fennel, will also take the edge off the clashing
colours and make them less intimidating.
RECOMMENDED PLANTS
- Anchusa azurea ‘Loddon Royalist’: this is a favourite
with show-garden designers, who often combine it with pale-yellow flowers
such as Verbascum ‘Gainsborough’. The intense blue of its flowers works
equally well with bright golden yellow, orange or crimson.
- Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’: this late-summer dazzler has arching
stems tipped with scarlet flowers. Its sword-shaped foliage is a good foil
for other plants.
- Dahlia ‘David Howard’: there are countless dahlias with
fabulous saturated colours, from yellow and orange to red and magenta. This
is one of the best oranges, with neat, medium-sized, rounded flowers and
fabulous dark-bronze-tinged leaves and stems.
- Delphinium ‘Blue Nile’: Its 5ft spikes of brilliant blue
flowers, each with a white eye in the centre, will have an outstanding
impact at the back of a border.
- Euphorbia palustris: many euphorbias produce flowers in acid yellow
or green, which are invaluable contrast colours. This species has open airy
stems and flowers, making it particularly good for mixing with neigh-bouring
plants.
- Geranium psilostemon: a wonderful species of geranium, with
black-eyed flowers of pure, glowing magenta. Though happy in sun, it will
also tolerate a good degree of shade.
- Geum ‘Mrs J Bradshaw’: geums, with small rounded flowers
on the end of long slender stems, are invaluable for introducing spots of
brilliant colour into perennial planting schemes. This form has fiery
orange-red double flowers, but there are many others to choose from,
including the tangerine Geum ‘Prinses Juliana’.
- Gladiolus communissubsp byzantinus: far removed from the gaudy glads
at the local florist, this elegant species produces rich magenta flowers
with a small white streak towards the centre of the larger petals.
- Meconopsis cambrica: I bought a single Welsh poppy when I visited
Wales eight years ago, and now it’s all over the garden, so if you are a
tidy gardener, be warned. Personally, I welcome the cheery orange or
bright-yellow flowers that pop up all over the place, creating unexpected
but always lively combinations with other plants.
- Salviax sylvestris‘Mainacht’: this was arguably the most
used plant in the Chelsea show gardens this year. Its vertical spikes of
luminous purple flowers were frequently combined with vivid oranges and
yellows.
- Salvia guaranitica ‘Blue Enigma’: a sub-shrub perennial
that can reach 4ft in height, it produces true-blue flowers in late summer
and autumn. It hails from South America, so it needs a sheltered spot with
plenty of sun and welldrained soil in order to thrive.
- Xanthophthalum segetum: an annual corn marigold that produces masses
of bright-yellow daisies throughout the summer and will self-seed around the
garden. The simplicity of the flowers makes it a hugely likeable plant, and
the jolly colour brightens everything in the vicinity.
