Flower garden color schemes are one of the many ways to gain fluidity throughout the garden. Since I got my degree in fashion merchandising, I am always aware of color, line, and design. In my past life, I put together ensembles for working wardrobes. I always started with an inspirational piece. Be it a piece of jewelry, a multi-colored scarf, or a piece of fabric.
Similarly, flower garden color schemes can get their inspiration from a favorite piece of art or merely the color wheel. Let’s look at a few combinations. You can adapt these in your garden to perk up a dreary landscape or shady area. You can add color that invites and attracts not only humans but pollinators too.
One aspect to consider is when the particular plants bloom. When choosing the flower color combinations, remember how they will look in different seasons together. Planning ahead will gain your insight into the color combinations and what you have to look forward to each season.
Try These Flower Color Schemes in the Garden
Yellow, Blue, Violet
When choosing your daffodil bulbs, for example, add something to the mix that will both highlight their happy, little, yellow faces. At the same time of year, Creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) is blooming. Phlox varies in shades of pink, red, blues, violet, whites, and variegated varieties. They lay as a welcome doormat to spring at the feet of the daffodil bloom, giving a nice colored carpet. Highlight with the long-lasting, miniature grape hyacinths or Muscari armeniacum bulbs. They will naturalize as do the daffodils. As the daffodil foliage fade, the Creeping phlox will camouflage it with its evergreen foliage. This creeping evergreen will spread as far as 2 ft. in all directions.
Violet, Blue, Red
Placing plants together or having an eye view of each other is the same as combining them all in one big container planting. The beautiful Knockout Roses in the background serve to embolden the Blue False Indigo in its showy display. Use a ground cover to finish off the garden floor with Creeping Phlox. Use it in a colorful palette and as a living mulch to damper the weed seeds from flourishing.
Silver, Blue, Gold
Nothing is more glorious in the garden than Russian sage. Its grey-silver foliage perfectly combines the lavender-like flowers on each stem. Making its depute in early summer, it’s a long, lasting shrub-like perennial that deserves attention in any garden. Combine it with Stella-d’Ora daylilies that continuously make an attractive display. Continue the grey-silver foliage by adding Blue Fescue to the border. The tiny trumpets of the Bellflower (Campanula) marry well with the grey-silver foliage of the fescue. Bellflower mimics the blue sky to which it so favorably looks up.
Burgundy, Red, Chartreuse
Experimenting with selections of colors in a garden container can be fun. When at the garden center, pull out your favorite color. It doesn’t have to be a blooming plant, either. Here, a lot of foliage lends itself to color all season long with no leftover blooms to groom. The purples and burgundy of the Purple Fountain Grass (Pennisetum) give it height for the ensemble. Below it, I like to add some all-season-long colorful ‘Red Flash’ caladiums. The Coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides ‘Colleen’), which has a tint of pinkish-red, ties together the combo. At the foot of the ensemble, I added a sweet potato vine, ‘Margarita,’ for its bright chartreuse color.
White, Silver, Green
A quiet, sedating look might soothe your thoughts in a part-shade garden. Combine the reflective whites of Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) with the grey-silver of Lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina). The variegated leaves of Bishop’s Weed (Aegopodium podagraria) are a ground cover that can sometimes take over if left unchecked. But here, it serves as an excellent ground cover. On the edge of the shade garden bed it helps with soil erosion on this steep slope.
Blue, Pink, Burgundy, Silver
Adding colorful winter garden interest can be forgotten if you plan your summer garden in the spring. Some are concentrated only on the flowers that are blooming at the moment. Leave room for the different foliage colors in evergreen conifers. Admire the Montgomery Blue Spruce (Picea pungens ‘Montgomery’) in the background. This slow-growing dwarf conifer’s blue-gray needles are well under a blanket of freshly fallen snow. The Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca Pendula’) is a dramatic point in the garden. It is also slow growing and gives that graceful, weeping effect in the winter garden. Its leaves are much like icicles hanging off the roof edges. The pink Knock-out Roses (Rosa ‘Radcon’) play off the mauve tones of the Barberry (Berberis thunbergeii ‘Rose Glow‘). These plant color schemes add a soothing color combination to your garden.
Adding flower garden color schemes for all-season interest is natural when you have some inspiration. Walk around your neighborhood or garden center and start picking out color combinations. Then infuse them into your garden. If you need a little inspiration, let’s talk. Call me for a design consultation today. We will discuss your favorite color schemes for the garden.
