fleeting plant combinations, accidental and planned

Sometimes I have a plan to combine particular shapes and colours in the ongoing search for perfection - whatever that means. But usually it doesn't work out  because plants have their own minds, or their own designs. They might comply with me for a season or two, but then they do their own thing. And sometimes I adore that thing ... while it lasts ...



Lychnis, a perennial, disappears for a bit then pops up in unexpected places. The wallflowers are in flower in winter and spring. When they flower together and next to each other, the colour combination is wonderful. There was a time when bright pink and orange combination didn't appeal. Now I love it, especially next to the lacy santolina leaves (bottom left).



In this picture there are five plants to be seen. On the whole they are fairly ordinary, common plants. Overseen by a rabbit security guard, together they combine to make a very pretty picture. Starting to the right of Rabbit, going clockwise, rosemary is the backdrop, dark blue echium, euphorbia Silver Swan with flowers the colour of cauliflour, bottom left the edge of a group of white salvia Greggii, and in the middle some hot pink Lychnis.


Here's another view of Rabbit. Big bush to left of Rabbit is not-yet-flowering Teucrium Betonicum. When it does flower it will have bright pink spires. Going round clockwise: low grey plant is a small wormwood - I think it's 'Powis Castle'. Then the big distinctive leaves of the echium. You can glimpse the dark blue flower spike at the edge of the photo. Underneath salvia greggii white form, orange wallflower, pink lychnis and grey leaved santolina.



Moving along, you can see similar plants, with the addition of the grassy liriopes on the right, grown mainly for their punctuation and contrasting capacities rather than their tiny mauve flowers.

So -  different shaped and sized foliage, lots of grey and green, with a few bright coloured highlights, all combine to make a pleasing picture in the front garden. It's temporary of course. Already we're starting to experience hot weather, a few days over 30 degrees. The picture will change. It's not a good idea to be too attached to the way the garden looks at any given moment in time.

There'll be another picture, but until I see it I only have a vague idea what that picture might be. The only element of the picture that I can depend on and that is predictable is the Rabbit. 

Comments

  1. What a beautiful combination! Looks like your security guard is doing a good job of keeping your lovely plants safe.

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    1. thanks, Peter, she's not very good at hiding herself though, because her ears stick up.

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  2. Loving my vist to your garden. As well as colour you have textures which have my fingers itching to explore.
    And isn't every garden a work in progress. Always.

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    1. Everything seems to be a work in progress - feels exciting or exhausting, depending on how I'm feeling at the time.

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  3. Pink and orange supported by silver leaves is a happy mixture.

    There was an old recording - a nursery school teacher - kids were to dance like a flower - little Jimmy was determined to be a cauliflower.

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    1. I've never heard of it, but those plants can be dedicated to little Jimmy.

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  4. Rabbit seems essential in this setting - in a supervisory role.

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    1. I can't do everything, need some help sometimes ...

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  5. The pink and orange combination is very cheerful! (I seem to remember I had a pair of patent leather shoes in florescent orange and pink when I was a kid.) I avoided orange - and red - in my old garden because I thought those colors overwhelmed the tiny space but now I can't get enough of either color. In general I enjoy the way the scene morphs from one month to the next with the dominant colors shifting over time. Only the areas planted with succulents remain somewhat constant - there, the plants change mostly in terms of size.

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    1. Shrubs like camellias and wormwood are like that - you need them but they're a bit boring and predictable. I love orange but still can't find a place for red in the garden.

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  6. That is my kind of garden rabbit--the kind that has no appetite!

    Orange and hot pink work really well in your garden. You've created a really beautiful scene there. The 'Silver Swan' Euphorbia, does it begin to struggle when the weather gets very hot? Those types don't seem to do well here--too long of a hot summer? They are fabulous in the Pacific Northwest, which has a much shorter season of summer heat.

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    1. I haven't had the Silver Swan Euphorbia very long, they haven't had to cope with a very hot summer yet. I hope they survive, the other varieties do. Que sera sera ...

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  7. Yes, the combinations are the magic here! Wow, I'm feeling envious now because winter is on my doorstep. I will live vicariously through you until my garden blooms again. Thank you for sharing the beauty!

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    1. Hi Beth, actually when summer is hot I think it's a bit like your winter. Plants slow down their growth, and it's too unpleasant and tiring to be out gardening. But that's one of the wonders of blogging, isn't it - we all live a bit vicariously.

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  8. The constant changes and surprises... that's what I love about gardening. And a rabbit as reliable focal point.

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    1. Hi Denise, I guess that's why we never get bored or sick of gardening

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  9. Your rabbit security guard is so cute! He really completes the scene.

    The Echium is magnificent, and goes so well with the hot pink and orange.

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    1. I'm glad I photographed it, because we've had a few hot days and that particular scene has finished.

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  11. Like you I've come to love the orange/magenta combo. And in that border, against the silver leaves, it is perfection. How wonderful to see your garden in Spring.. such a welcome relief when everything here is withering!

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    1. Hi Rusty, today's the first day of summer, and everything's starting to wither here too!

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  12. I've been wanting to get lychnis established and self-sowing for ages, but then heard about this sterile, double form called 'Gardeners World' that's supposedly is a blooming champion -- guess I need both kinds!

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