color

Yellow is nearly indispensible in a garden. It’s light, it’s bright, it adds contrast and draws the eye. Except in special situations like moon gardens and other limited color schemes, yellow is welcome because it has the ability to energize a view and alleviate perceived heaviness. Indeed, this ability is one of yellow’s best assets. Yet its very abundance means we often overlook ways to better utilize its sunny disposition.

Not everyone is a fan, of course. Yellow may not complement one’s house color or go with other important elements in the landscape. Some yellows dominate or clash. While the paler hues are easiest to work with, strong shades can be trickier when a harmonious result is desired. This causes some people to avoid yellow all together, which is a shame.

Fortunately, variations like yellow-green, yellow-apricot, yellow-beige, and exciting bicolors allow for endless possibility.

One of the most useful colors in any garden is silver. Aside from white, no other color produces such a strikingly pale neutral that coordinates with virtually everything. Silver defines boundaries and balances color. It helps anchor a garden through strong contrast and visual buoyancy. It can even sit quietly in the background and let everything else shine.

Excluding metal objects, when we say “silver” in gardening terms we mean living foliage with a silvery bloom or cast. The color isn’t metallic, obviously. “Silver” foliage is closer to gray, powder blue, sea-glass green or pistachio, often with white fuzz. A few flowers can also pass as silver. All are valuable to the gardener for their high-contrast properties. In both very low and very strong light, these cultivars often reflect a silvery or pale countenance, hence the term “silver”.

Yellow in the Garden

Silver in the Garden