Cool RED stone lantern - but can I break some color rules?

21 years ago

So all this talk of bad combinations has me worried!

I just the other day got a wonderful vintage stone lantern at an estate sale. It's Chinese red, 5 feet tall, and it has wonderful detail and patina. The only problem is, I have a VERY small garden and the only place that it could really be sited was next to a huge, unmoveable 75-year old bourbon rose that happens to be a cool red-pink. Now I'm considering planting for next year and I'm debating how to deal with what could be a potentially dreadful color combination.

Here's the lantern:

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And here's the large rose planted next to it - I'm pretty sure it's an Isaac Pereire bourbon:

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First of all, should I move heaven and earth to get these two away from each other? And secondly, is there a "bridge" color that could be planted around the lantern and at the feet of the rose to improve the situation?

The two things I thought about where white (nicotiana, Casablanca lilies, white liatris, white malva, maybe some white cushiony stuff at the base) and super-light blush pink (delphinium, lilies, the right lupines, pink baby's breath.) The pink would only work if it got that "Cherry blossoms around a Japanese temple" feel. The only other thing I can think of is to do silvery greens to try and create some neutral space, but I both don't want to lose the space for flowers for cutting, and I can't imagine what could be planted around it in small quantities that would be TALL enough.

...Any ideas you have would be HUGELY appreciated! It's driving me a little nuts at the moment. :)

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Comments (5)

pitimpinai
21 years ago
There is a stunning combination in Christopher Lloyd "Color for Adventurous Gardeners" page 39.

In the picture are fuschia purple garden Phlox, bright orange asiatic lilies, orange/red Helenium, chrome yellow Euphorbia & some Allium seed heads.

Maybe if you try bright orange lilies, something yellow and the new Helenium that Bluestone is offering......I might throw in a few Larkspur seeds as well.... :-)

Gorgeous lantern, by the way. What a find.
youreit
21 years ago
I definitely think anything in yellow or white would be a nice separation color between the two. Maybe something in the palest of yellow with a rich blue center to compliment that beautiful rose.

That really is a lovely lantern, Kristen! :)

Brenda
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Amanda (asarumgreenpanda, z6MA)
21 years ago
Hi, I'm new to this forum but I have to say how much I LOVE that lantern! I think you'll have a stunning combination without moving the rose, but I would suggest using foliage as a mediator so you don't distract too much from the beauty of the lantern. It needs to reign supreme. How about clumps of Stachys byzantina (/lamb's ears) around the base of it all? Or, maybe, a shrubby lavender? Gray-green foliage would set off both colors nicely, I think.

Amanda
moongirl54
21 years ago
Silver foliage like lamb's ear is a great suggestion, some taller fluffy artemisia like Powis Castle would look nice too. Or, did you consider purple foliage, which would look good with the lantern and rose also. (Or both silver and purple?)
Of course, I also think the suggestion of lot's of other bold colors is good!
FANTASTIC lantern, I love it!
Jan_Hobbs
21 years ago
You could even stay in the same colors...you have pink and red, go with green/burgundy ground foliage and something burgundy...