Sometimes you just need a little inspiration for color combinations. The following are gardens that inspired my flower color choices.
Variegated or colorful foliage will keep a garden interesting even after the accompanying flowers fade. I tend to use a lot of burgundy leaved plants mixed with with lime green or white leaves. An easy way to get that look is with ornamental sweet potato varieties. In my climate (zone 8b) sweet potatoes grow all summer, producing mounds of colorful leaves.
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I'm a big fan of dark purple, hot pink and shots of yellow. Some of my very favorite combinations of plants fill this category.
Link The next three photos are from preplanned gardens from highcountrygardens.com they have xeriscape (super low water) plants and have created some of my favorite mixes.
These colors really grab your attention, and having plants that thrive in low water situations are good for nearly everyone. Go ahead and look at their online catalog. They have some great ideas.
I'm a big fan of dark purple gardens, but pops of white really show up well as color mixes.
Again, shades of purple are my favorites but what makes this garden stand out: is the mix of formal and informal textures.
All the blooms here are allium. The cool thing about allium (and I learned this visiting Colorado ski country in the summer): is the structure of the flower stays, even after the bloom fades. In downtown Vail, Colorado they spray paint the seed heads to extend the plants usefulness. It was an interesting idea, but flowers in ski country summers are amazing regardless of how long they last.
The problem with this garden is that in my climate it would need soil ammending and supplemental water, plus it would only look like this in spring. But the informal cottage garden look of this is beautiful. I visited Monet's gardens in Giverny, France as a teenager. Between Giverny, and the formal gardens at Versailles, I was exposed to the full gamut of possibilities in garden textures. As a mom and food forest gardener: I don't have time for even a portion of the manicured gardens like those places have. Those gardens have an army of workers taking care of the property. So, don't feel bad if you can't duplicate a certain idea. Sometimes it's better to find something you like, that needs no special care.
Sometimes no color is the best color choice. This garden's shades of green plants and black hards cape, create a relaxing, beautiful and tranquil spot. This would have been easy to maintain when I lived in Georgia. Lots more water than Texas or Colorado.
Texture can be as interesting as flower color. Try a portion of your garden sans flowers and see what texture differences you can create. You may end up happier with that than you expect.
See you out in the garden, Crazy Green Thumbs
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