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Combinations

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Sometimes when I look at a favorite flower, I have the urge to go and buy a dozen more exactly the same. It's as though I can't get enough. And yet, the rational part of me suggests: plants that are complementary or contrast well may be even better than more.

By complementary I mean something different blooming next to another blooming plant that will enhance rather than just increase the impact.

This could be described as another version of the "enhance the taste of the ice cream you are eating by adding sprinkles, rather than just eat another ice cream that is exactly the same" theory.

I applied that theory this past summer when I resisted buying more Achillea ‘moonbeam' and instead bought a deep purple salvia to partner with the yarrow instead.

When combined, the bright yellow yarrow and the deep purple salvia, both deer resistant as an added bonus, made each other look even better. And then when some white feverfew volunteered next to them, the duo turned into a trio that looked better still.

Serendipity often does the hard work of creating the most perfect combinations in our gardens. Last spring, the perennial blue forget-me-not, (not Brunnera), self-seeded bountifully on my rock wall near the acid yellow blooms on a low growing sedum. This combination was stunning.

And in my herb garden a bright yellow alyssum danced alongside a lavender.

Color combinations such as these really make plant neighbors "pop" and make gardeners realize that just more of the same is not always better.

This is Moya Andrews, and today we focused on colorful combinations.

combinations of colors

(Phil Weir, public domain images)

Sometimes when I look at a favorite flower, I have the urge to go and buy a dozen more exactly the same. It's as though I can't get enough. And yet, the rational part of me suggests: plants that are complementary or contrast well may be even better than more.

By complementary I mean something different blooming next to another blooming plant that will enhance rather than just increase the impact.

This could be described as another version of the "enhance the taste of the ice cream you are eating by adding sprinkles, rather than just eat another ice cream that is exactly the same" theory.

I applied that theory this past summer when I resisted buying more Achillea ‘moonbeam' and instead bought a deep purple salvia to partner with the yarrow instead.

When combined, the bright yellow yarrow and the deep purple salvia, both deer resistant as an added bonus, made each other look even better. And then when some white feverfew volunteered next to them, the duo turned into a trio that looked better still.

Serendipity often does the hard work of creating the most perfect combinations in our gardens. Last spring, the perennial blue forget-me-not, (not Brunnera), self-seeded bountifully on my rock wall near the acid yellow blooms on a low growing sedum. This combination was stunning.

And in my herb garden a bright yellow alyssum danced alongside a lavender.

Color combinations such as these really make plant neighbors "pop" and make gardeners realize that just more of the same is not always better.

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