Nancy, you do WHATEVER THE HELL pleases YOU, and everyone else be damned!

Technically, there ARE certain color combinations that are supposed to go better together... yellow with purple, for instance (which I think really IS a great combination), and my Ortho book on Perennials spends about HALF the book on color combinations, so I guess a lot of folks DO consider that important...

But I still feel the flower garden should please the GARDENER. If YOU like it, don't worry about what other people think. That DOESN'T mean you shouldn't get that Ortho book or others and read up on color combinations and see what you think about all the different color combination advice... It just means that in the final analysis, the most important audience to please is STILL the one who does all the planting, weeding, hoeing, watering and most of the gazing.

You keep YOU happy, and TO HELL with what anybody else thinks!

Happy Gardening!
Jeff

I'm with Jeff...was thinking the same thing before I read his response. That's the kind of thing that cracks me up about the antiquarian rose forum...those people are snobs when it comes to colors and combinations.

Nan, there is nothing more beautiful that intense colors in a flower garden. I love it all and quite mixed up at that. It's like getting dressed in the morning. You can play it safe and do The Gap, or accessorize and put together a look.

Just today going around the rotary (traffic circle to you southerners) in Pinehurst, I noticed purpleheart and red begonias en masse...just gorgeous. Then I was struck by the most graceful, vibrant swamp sunflowers on the walkway to the Magnolia Inn, a very swanky eatery down there. It's your own particular style and how you make it work for you. Rules and playing it safe are definitely bor-ing!

peace, claire in sanford

Claire, if you weren't a married misanthrope I think I'd propose! :-P

Nancy, I'm with Jeff!! It's YOUR garden!! If you're happy with it, then the rest can take a hike. As for me, I like bold and playful. If I want serene, I'll go to the Blueridge mountains.

Nancy

I say to each his own! I'm sure someone would think my plantings are gaudy since I just love to collect plants and will probably end up with every color imagineable before I die. I resisted red for a long time but the individual plants just won my heart. I try to use alot of white to buffer any clashes but it all boils down to what pleases MY eyes. I think all pastel gardens are boring and anything that looks too planned belongs at a shopping center. I'm sure I would love your gardens.

Shari

You spend more time with your plants than anyone else, so you should please yourself first.

Pleasing yourself is what it's all about. My beds started out grouped according color, with complementary plantings, and I've got the ladylike apricot/pink groups, etc., but the most fun I've had was changing a bed of species roses into a wild/hot/crazy bed with red, scarlet, orange, deep pink, and chrome yellow roses mixed together, plus bright perennials (torch lily, red hot poker, crocosmia, etc.) and variegated or otherwise bright foliage like striped cannas and pokeberry. I try to moderate it somewhat with Black Magic elephant ears as buffers. There was a funny discussion of bright roses on the antique roses forum called 60s Go Go Boots or something like that. Sometimes I think the folks there like to pretend they're scandalized but they're not really :-)
Janice

Nancy, there is definitely a concensus that you plant what is pleasing to you! After all, to be human is to accessorize!!

For me, my front flower beds are serene, all pinks and blues, purples, soft yellow, and white....but being me I have a few punctuation marks of deep red here and there to "draw" the eye. My backyard, which receives much more sun, is the "hot" garden. There I abandon the color charts and planted orange with red and hot yellow and deep purple, etc.....anything goes!

My only rule: if it doesn't work for me, it goes. I give away quite a few plants, mainly because perennials joyfully spread, but also some because I didn't like their smell or their behavior. I do talk with my plants...it goes something like this: I put a new plant in the ground, water it, and say "grow, or I'll plant something else here."

:-)

Here is a link that might be useful: my gardens

Nancy - I can only echo what most have said before me - it's YOUR garden - have fun. I decided many many years ago that the perfect garden and the perfect yard just don't exist in my world. I love far too many plants - I can handle the clover in my yard - the stray buttercup or dandelion that creeps in - well heck even a whole bunch of them.

When I moved down here with a clean slate I was going to have one partiotic garden with only red white and blues - worked for one year and then the gloriosa daisy seeded into it - then some stray columbine. I have a VERY difficult time pulling any of Gods volunteer plants. Gardens are meant to ENJOY not to fuss over or be perfect with the perfect combination. To me that takes the fun out and puts stress in and stress is NOT what I want when I garden. I want the surprise and the unexpected.

So that being said - plant away - have FUN and marvel at JOYS and serendipity of a care free garden.

Not that you need to hear it again, but I agree with everyone else. Go for it. I decorate the inside of my house to suit me and do the outside the same.

Cindy

I dunno, Jeff, we could have a G-W affair...bet we'd have a lot more lurkers! We could couch all our verbal lovemaking in dirty plant talk.

But I'm afraid seedbandito is trying to horn in on my territory with all this talk about liking things "bold and playful." Back off, seedy!

I like contrast in my garden and dissonance in my music. Adds intrigue and excitement.

Yeah BABY, Claire... being gardeners, we could "do it in the dirt," get all "weedy and seedy" roll in "showers of flowers," let passionflower power tower over us, feed on the grapes of wrath and when it's all finished cover our naughtiness with the few remaining leaves from my drought-stressed fig tree.

Whatchasay lady? :-P

As for contrast and dissonance, Karen, how about let's turn that on its head a little bit with some Philip Glass?
:)

It would be fun to read a persons personality in correlation to their garden -- much like the zodiac. Ha! Personally, I live for blue and pink in my garden - I'll stick in a little purple and white, don't care for yellow, and keep out anything orange. Wonder what that means.

Jeff, now you're describing my garden after the deer went through it. It's still there, but you have to look harder to see the beauty.

I subscribe to the concept of 'right plant/right place' and sometimes color combinations just are the last thing I consider. Unless you have an artificial planting area like a pot or a big planter or even beds that have been filled with bagged topsoil , getting the right grouping of plant colors sometimes isn't possible. Conditions sometimes warrant using whatever plants do best.
I think that these 'Stepford Rules' belong in commercial plantings and places like DisneyWorld. Even Daniel Stowe Bot. Gardens doesn't pay as much attention to color groupings and I like that.
Don't let anyone dictate to spoil your pleasant endeavors!

I think which colors you use and how much is so situation-dependent, not even just person-dependent. Next to my house, for example, really needs something that goes with the house -- it has cedar siding, so orange (go figure, I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes), purple, blue-violet, white and cream go best there. In fact, I didn't use to like orange until I grew tithonia, the giant kind, next to the house. Everyone who came to the house asked what that flower was. The same with white -- I used to think white was boring, but it lights up dark areas so much, I can't imagine gardening without a lot of white-flowering plants now.

I have a large border that has ended up mostly being whites, pinks, blues, purples -- anything red really threw it out of whack.

Color is something that is really hard to master, I think. Sometimes you can get away with a wild profusion of different colors, and sometimes the garden just ends up looking busy, depending on the structure of the garden. Everything hinges on the structure of the garden.

I do consider color but it's usually not the primary factor in putting a plant in the ground. Mature size is more important because you can't enjoy a plant if it's being eaten alive by another. That being said, I have stumbled apon some great color combos quite by accident and they really do make a garden look fabulous. Theresa.

I like the unexpected. Nothing wrong with a guaudy garden but nothing wrong with a manicured and muted garden either. My gardens are like me, somewhat disorganized and not all together planned - but, I like them that way. I'm rambling but for me, the process is worth more than the result. If it grows, enjoy it, no matter what color it is.

I'm with you, Dottie! I threw out the Stepford everything a long time ago. Just like food when we look at those glossy photographs of shellacked turkeys, and supermodels whose those thighs are narrowed and cheekbones are lifted by computer enhancement, photo gardens like commercial gardens are not real life.

That said, the beauty of a garden, any like any other personal style, is in the eyes of the beholder. Many of you would despise my cottage garden b/c it is not neat or not native or not whatever. Great color combinations happen, but they need to be secondary to the health of the plant and that's not always easy. Mother Nature doesn't use her palette like that, only by accident, and I'm not one to try to outdo her...she's the master.

thanks, pup.
now, i don't have to put my 2 cents in :)

Hey puppy, anyone who would "despise" your garden is not really a mature gardener in my book. Every garden has its own qualities to offer, and reflects the gardener. I remember spending the first 3 years of my 6 in Phoewnix missing New Orleans and trying to grow azaelas under shade cloth, before I discovered the beauties of desert plants. I was in my 20's then, I'm quicker to appreciate the uniqueness of each garden now.

Brenda, you haven't been over to the Antique Rose forum, have you. I bet they would snub me in a NY minute! But kidding aside, I totally agree with you about the beauty in the diversity of gardening.

Just heard on NPR that some duchess or countess is growing cannabis & other substances in a formal English garden setting as an anti-drug awareness project. Field groups from schools are visiting. No sampling is allowed!

And marsha, happy to speak for you anytime. I think we were twins separated at birth: you got the brains, I got the big mouth.

Claire, I think you're being too hard on the folk in the Antique Roses forum. :) A lot of them don't like Knockout, but several have admitted to liking colors that really stand out.

There is something diplomatic about the color green. With enough green leaves in the scene just about any color can sit side by side without causing someone to faint or wretch. You can get away with combinations in the garden that you can't do inside the house or in a painting. Just something about green (my favorite color).

I often have to explain to people that I am no purist - about anything!! My yard will never be a perfect cottage garden nor a exquisite veggie/herb combo. None of that is what I am aiming for. I just want it to work and not take all my spare time to keep it happy. I don't pull every weed and I don't always plant the best flowers beside each other.. live and learn. I call my style: Lazyassgardening

Personally, I think Jeff may have rubbed against some cannibas or mushrooms or something. Down boy, down!

It's not just the knockout, ali, it's MANY other comments. They call a rose which shall remain nameless (I know someone who has it) "vomit on a stick." They are relentless!

You'd love my garden right now, John...it's almost ALL green. I think the sun, when it gets to my patch, takes a coffee break. I'm no Einstein, but the angle of the sun's rays + the height of the trees X their spacing = zero!! I'm having violas damp off on the spot...within two days!

another frantic day in the garden...claire

OK, let's get this STRAIGHT -- my name is not Ali. It's Alicia. :)

Ha, I have to agree with llpnt about the liver on a stick rose, although I've only seen it at a nursery, where nothing looks its best.

pup, my weird yard is much shadier right now.
so, it's called "damping off" when pansies melt
into oblivion? (good term for WOTD)

i just walked past my new rose and wondered if it
is "vomit on a stick" ... thanks a lot guys :)

I realize that seedlings damp off, but I didn't think that healthy adult plants from a nursery would do it and so fast. Is it a disease? I've had pansies rot at the base, but this is the entire plant that just lost it and practically turned to mush.

I am so giggling here, marsha, about to fall off my chair...the throw-up rose in question is named for a warm winter drink...hint, hint.

And, whooooaaa, sorry, alicia, I won't make that mistake again! I understand though...I really hate being called "clara" and it happens a lot in the South where it is more common than claire. My only P of R is Clarabell, Howdy Doody's sidekick, now if that doesn't date me.

i just put some pansies in on friday, to replace the ones
that did the meltdown thing, and this morning noticed that a couple of the replacements have done the same thing - just that quickly.

i was thinking i may have patches of pansy poison.

and, speaking of "gaudy gardens" ... heard an old tune this evening ...

"but it's alright now, i learned my lesson well.
you see, you can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself."

"Garden Party"
Ricky Nelson

Damping off is caused by fungus around the base of the plant from too much moisture when there's not enough light and heat for evaporation and photosynthesis, if I remember correctly, Clara and Ali :-P (NEVER say what NOT to call you in a forum I post in... snicker) -- won't do it again though, gals, 'cause I really really love y'all and Alicia is about to receive some of my "love" in the mail (woohoo!)

As for you and Marsha, Claire... I think it was actually TRIPLETS... she got the big brains, you got the big mouth, and I got the big gut and butt :-P

As for green being a favorite color and "going with everything," I can't HELP but think that at least subconsciously, John, you and a few others have MONEY on the brain when you're thinking that way... Hmmmmmmm???

Me? I want a BILLION DOLLARS, so I can give all my gardening friends $10 million each until I have $100 million left, and then I'll just enjoy that and party with everybody :-P

Anybody know any billionaires in the mood to share?
:)

Oh my Jeff, so funny you mention money. My sister and I were discussing a particular powerball lottery with 340 million at stake. We were talking bout what we would do with it and I said I would certainly "share the wealth". She then asked why? to which I replied "because I could and believe you me...I would still be happy with a nice big chunk of it. But wouldn't it be loverly to buy ..this person a greenhouse...or that person the 19 acres behind his property...or someone else a crazy Dr. Suess looking spider daylily.

Yeh I got dreams...to bad they all involve money.

Adele

Put me on your charity list, Adele! You can drive the Ferrari and I'll be your co-pilot. Lord knows, you need one!

And good thing Rick Nelson did his own thing, b/c he died young in a plane crash. Let us take heed!

On that uplifting note, you should have saved that for a funky quote of the day.

If I had lots of cash I'd build a nursery. I know there's plenty around here but that's my dream... I'm thinking something like that place in Sanford where we do a lot of propogating ourselves. Also a bigger focus on natives.
And there's no such thing as a gaudy garden. Some are neat, some tranquil, some riotous, some (mine) a little wild. I appreciate them all. I think someone mentioned that mother nature doesn't "plan" her colors. I don't think I have yet come across a natural area that made me think "wow, these colors just don't blend right" or "oh, these growth habits just don't work together". I don't think I've ever met a garden I didn't like. I'm drawn to the more natural gardens and the riotous cottage garden looks more than formal ones, but I admire them as well. The one thing that bores me is a big green lawn and boxwood foundation neatly trimmed. Yawn...
I also don't believe that in gardens colors can clash. Here comes the old azalea dispute. You can put any 2 azaleas next to each otherr as long as there are plenty of different colors around. If you are only going to have 2 then the disharmony is more noticeable. The same goes for a garden. In a colorful garden nothing clashes. In a pastel garden a bold color will stand out and it's up to you if you want it to. Etc., etc. ... In the end you should do what you like. It's the people that try to be like everyone else that are boring. And anyone who considers your garden "gaudy" merely lacks imagination. -Ais.

this "marsha with the brains" myth must stop!
the pressure is enormous :)

Getting back to a post I made earlier in this very enlightning thread - I had said I was trying for a patriotic garden and it got hyjacked by gloriosa daisies - WELL - standing on the deck this morning with my morning coffee - I noticed I DO have my red/white/blue garden now - pineapple sage/blue mealycup sage and white lantana all blooming very happy in one garden and that wasn't the one I had planned. Gardens to me are a source of surprise/wonderment/ and most of all nature doing what it does best - it's own thing. Gardens change so much over the season that trying for that perfect color combination is fleeting anyway. I am like John - lots of green foilage plants and let the color pop up wherever it wants to

I do like to visit a very formal garden with all the little soldiers standing in a perfect row (only to be yanked out when one gets unrulely) - perfectly matched colors - and not a weed in sight - it is visually a very breathtaking sight but I am most at home in my back yard where a little mischief amongst the plants is tolerated *wink* . To live with that perfect garden day in and day out would be boring to say the least - variety is the spice of life.

Lynne - and her not so perfect garden

You guys read way more into my post (except for Jeff)! I don't fill my yard with green, I mean that there is something about the colors in leaves that allows us to place other colors closer together. Green works magic on hot pinks and yellows sitting side by side when in other situations you'd have to turn your head.

As for Adele's comment concerning money - I'm convinced that no matter what the amount of the Powerball lottery, should I hold the winning ticket, I can still be broke by the 15th of the month!!!!

Well, we'll have to agree to disagree about azaleas clashing. Drive along highway 210 near Smithfield some time, you'll see what I mean. If there really was a whole spectrum of color there wouldn't be a problem with my eyes getting hurt, but there usually is not -- just two colors that really don't agree. :) That has actually turned me away from the Asian azaleas more than anything else, except I really love how they are used in many gardens in Chapel Hill, like on Laurel (Pill) Hill and Gimghoul Road. Plus it's only worth it for me to have azaleas I really love, because the deer will eat those. I fixed those deer last year by throwing urine-soaked shavings from the horse's stalls onto the azaleas -- ha, not as visually distracting as you might think, and it worked!

I still say the structure of the garden is more important than color, unless we're talking about a combination of orange and pink. :) And then of course there's a lot of exceptions to that rule. The pink-flowered spirea (which looks magenta to me) looks great with butterfly weed. In fact, I've never seen anything that didn't go well with butterfly weed. I think because it's a small amount of a very vibrant color.

I'll have to get back and read this thread from A-Z here. You guys are REALLY getting out of control. You wear it well! snort.

But in the meanwhile, I shared this link on the Cottage Garden forum a few weeks ago, and if you want to talk about gaudy, this is probably it, but tell me this isn't GORGEOUS! Make sure you peruse all the pages linked on the bottom. If I could have my backyard look like this, I'd call it done!

Here is a link that might be useful: Paradise on a Quarter Acre

I would definately call that garden gaudy, Nan. Gorgeous, but gaudy!
Well Alicia (see how I resisted the temptation to call you Ali?) ,I DID say other colors need to be present for the azaleas not to clash. I visited a private garden in Raleigh a couple of years back that has a huge variety of azaleas. (Both asian and native) They have an open house each spring during azalea time. They had some of the "clashing" azaleas right next to each other and they looked just fine. It was only because there was so much else going on that your eyes didn't rest on the disharmonious combination. Actually I agree that if there are just the 2 colors they can clash. But maybe we can disagree about orange and pink! I really like them together as long as it's bright with bright and pastel with pastel. I think colors can clash, but as long as the whole picture works it's fine. There's no hard fast rules about what works and doesn't, but the most important thing (we can all agree) is that it works for you. -Ais.

New Zealand must have a really special climate. Every garden I have seen from there has been lush and gorgeous like that one. There is another site that I like to visit now and then from New Zealand called Mooseys Garden. Google it sometime. Her use of flax has started me thinking on more than one occasion of just where in my garden it would do well. Adele

Well, Ais (Geicko?), I DID see what you wrote the first time, but as I said, we'll have to agree to disagree and that's that. Now that statement sounds hostile and smartass, but I don't really mean it that way -- read it a little annoyed instead. :) Most yards don't look anything like the private garden in Raleigh looked, or the twin sisters' garden on Gimghoul Road. That's my opinion and I stand by it!

To answer nancedar's original question, have you been to the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh? :) Gaudy has been in, where have you been, girl? Personally I can't imagine only using pastels, or doing a monochromatic garden. I don't think I have the discipline, and I think I'd long to throw something bright in there.

Adele, New Zealand is taking new citizens as we speak...you have to like sheep a whole lot though.

Nan, yes, you ARE an email-order bride, but that's ok, it was mutually consentual (is that redundant?) not like the mail order bride sent to New Zealand in The Piano...poor Holly Hunter. No pretty gardens in those bleak, muckky days neither!

Well I must agree that New Zealand garden is lovely, though quite gaudy, as well... I mean what WERE they thinking, growing all that well-manicured green WEED between all those lovely flowers in every color of the rainbow?!?

Just TOTALLY blew the effect :-P

Wow! I didn't expect quite so many responses! I do appreciate your encouragement. I guess I was just a little down that day seeing such a wonderfully perfect garden while mine is still in the digging and planting stage (without a real plan other than hither and thither) and about 200 times larger than my friend's. I just want it to be closer to "full", and now I can say it is OK for it to be filled with gaudy because it is mine, for me and my gaudy brain. Thanks good buddies!

Nancy nancedar

Hey Nance, The latest issue of Fine Gardening declares bright hot colors a 2006 hot trend! As always, ahead of your time!