What makes you think I like Begonias?
This Begonia Rex is grown for its strongly coloured foliage and the spikes of light blue/white flowers are inconsequential. They can be propagated by leaf cutting, rooting in water or perlite. As house plants begonias like high humidity. There are many interesting Hybrid Begonias with red leaves and they do look a bit different when massed in the garden or grown indoors as a house plant.
These flowers goes-in-‘ere
Gazania are one of the most colourful of garden flowers. The star shaped daisy like flowers can be up to 3 inches across and are available in a range of colours as this photo shows.
The flowers of most varieties are stripped and zoned. As in this photo they display their vibrant colours even in cloudy conditions but prefer the hot sun.
Americans call it ‘Fall’ and the Brits call it ‘Autumn’ but November’s ‘Backend’ can produce a garden Bonanza.
These flowers are still showing their true colours despite all that our English weather has been able to throw at them.
You can tell the leaves know it is fall and the Cyclamen hederifolium know it is autumn and time to flower.
Dollar Princess was a group of Fucshias I received as cuttings. It took awhile for the flowers to arrive but the late profusion is very welcome.
A bit over blown and beginning to loose their colour the Hydrangeas have enjoyed our wet season this year. The reward is going to be a winter windfall of flower.
The Dahlias have also been a stroke of luck, lasting very well without as much deadheading as they should have received.
The annual Lobelia has surprised my with its deep blue colouring that has lasted all through summer. It may be the autumn light but the intensified colouring seems to have strengthened as the seasons moved on.
For next year I will try some more Lobelia seeds from Thompson & Morgan
One of the most interesting aspects of gardening is the combination of colours that can be achieved by accident or design.
Leaves and bark can play their part but it is the bold colours of some of our favourite flowers that take centre stage.
Sometimes, we like the delicate, soothing pastel shades or the zen of a ‘White Garden‘ but, this doesn’t mean we always have to follow decorum and good taste. Sometimes its nice to just choose great impact colours which add life, zest and sparkle to the garden. The kind of colour combination that makes a passerby think – ‘hmm that’s interesting’
Deep Purple Delphiniums and bright red poppies
The best Bergenias have leaves that turn a strong colour in Autumn. These purple leaves look good in the December garden when compared to the ‘Elephant Ear’ green varieties of Bergenia. These plants tend to be lusty and the rampant, leathery leaves may need cutting back to keep the plant in control.
Bergenia has some medicinal properties and uses see
Bergenia from amazon
Colourful Tips on garden colour wheel.
Red and green are complementary colours that draw plenty of compliments in the right setting. This Geum looks better against the green leaves than it does waving around on its long stems (although it is fine then as well).
Another moody shot of a red Oriental poppy against it’s slightly greener leaves. For great artistic paintings you can’t beat red poppies and green leaves.
Perhaps it is the yellow stamens that catch the eye on this Hibiscus but the glossy green leaves are also a major part of the charm.
Acer are renown for the colour of their leaves in Autumn. Careful selection of varieties will produce great spring colour in addition to your Autumn blaze of glory.
Select the varieties that are classified as shrubs. ‘Japanese Maple’ Acer japonicum and palmatum will give you the desired results.
Other Acers like Field maple, Sycamore, Red or Silver Maple are all medium to large trees 50′ plus.
Paper bark maple and Snake bark maple have interesting bark and grow to be small trees 15-25 feet tall.
Acer japonicum Vitifolium is one of my favourites not shown here. It has salmon coloured fan shaped leaves that turn red in Autumn. …
The first week of March and it was time for me to chop the Cornus Dogwoods down to size. The red stems that have shown up so well during winter will never be the same again if left on the shrub so they are ‘out for the chop’.
There are many other interesting Cornus trees and shrubs or new Cornus Alba Sibirica plants can be bought via Amazon
Follow the full story of Bark on our other pages
This delicate little Primula ‘Elizabeth Burrow’ is not the best example of a purple patch plant as it is little bigger than a £2 coin. Primula Denticula however can be a real stunner with lilac or purple flowers on lollipop stems. This is just an example of the range of purple colourings available on modern plants ranging from deep violet to lilac.
Also from the Primula family come the Japonica and Harlow Carr Hybrids that often sport a purple hue to the flower-heads.
At the red end of the purple spectrum this cyclamen make a strong colour statement and it could be paired with the 18″ high Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’. There are also many purple Rhododendrons for early flowering like the compact Ramapo.
I was always taught ‘not to eat yellow snow’ but the yellow in our snowy garden caught my attention. This Witch Hazel was positively glowing and offered a bright spark on an otherwise dull day. The tree has seldom been pruned and is now over 10 feet tall with a very lax and open habit. This means I can see large quantities of blossom on the branches in January and get the scent on a still day.
