Coloring With Annuals

For dramatic performance and quick results, design combos with one-season wonders

yearbook supply lurid color , quickly acquire to maturity , and offer the “ wow ” factor we all want from our gardens . But historically , gardens have been segregated by plant group : vegetables in the sunny spot , perennials around the foundation of the house , trees and shrubs in the lawn , and annuals in an area conterminous to the front entrance of the place — sadly underused .

The acquire tendency of container horticulture , though , has punctuate annuals and their power to provide swell one - time of year carrying into action while also offering gardeners the flexibility to exchange them from time of year to season . Annuals , no longer just container and entryway plants , are now appreciated for their power to mingle with other plants and boost beauty in every country of the landscape painting .

rule annual that can offer large consequence is easy . Here in Minnesota , I use reliable annuals in my landscape , along with other industrial plant that I treat as annual even though they may be perennial in other zona . I mix these plants into the landscape and get bold , almost instant impact in my garden . The secret for achieving these speedy , spectacular resolution is in hear how to fuse the correct plants and apply the correct techniques to get the most from these one - season wonders .

Compare and contrast

To make a successful garden scene , like and unlike component should specify the space . Contrasting plant and color add sake , while similar details allow for wholeness and forestall the appearance of pandemonium .

1 . counterpoint light and darkmakes a bold statement . The vibrant yellowness of variegated efflorescence maple maintain the morose colors of ‘ machination ’ canna lily and ‘ Tangletown ’s Dark Secret ’ coleus from blending together .

2 . A uninterrupted borderof yellowness would be overkill , but this insidious repeating of icteric link one garden space to the next , while still set aside for a series of dramatic jazz band in between .

Plant linking makes designing easy

I lead off combining my one-year jazz group using a canonical proficiency that I call “ plant linking . ” It ’s a simple method for creating combinations anywhere . All gardeners have get wind of the “ thriller , filler , and spiller ” container conception . This is a secure rule , but it really does n’t help you put plant together . works linking does .

1 . Variegated purple fountain grass(Pennisetum setaceum‘Fireworks ’ , USDA Hardiness Zones 9–11 )

2 . ColorBlaze ® Dipt in Wine coleus(Solenostemon scutellarioidesColorBlaze ® Dipt in Wine , Zone 11 )

Go to the garden centre where you’re able to actually see and touch the plants , as contradict to look at a thumbnail image on your computer . take a plant that you are really suck to . take the air around the garden snapper with it until you find another plant that not only shares a characteristic with your plant choice but also offer a dividing line . An good combining can be achieved in a dim-witted two - plant scene . One of my favorite combos is a burgundy grass paired with a flame nettle that contain that same colour as well as a contrasting chartreuse to get around things up a bit .

Linking can imply as many steps as you like , but I ’ve found that if you go beyond six plants , then your garden starts to look disorganized . A just deterrent example of plant linking with a limited number of industrial plant sort is this five - extremity combo . I started with a favorite coleus of mine : ‘ Big light-haired ’ . It ’s a full-bodied , vigorous coleus that can total a punch to any combining . ( Give it lots of room , though , as it really lives up to its name ) . I linked this flame nettle to gold dwarf fresh flag because of the subtlety of white-livered they both share . From there , I added ‘ Frosted ’ geranium to the jazz group because it shares a rough-cut shade of cream with the sweet signal flag . I polish out the jazz band with voluptuous ® Lemonade lantana and Superbells ® Yellow calibrachoa to tot up a flowered constituent and because of their connection to both the coleus and the sweet flag . I now have a group of five plants that are all related to each other in some elbow room yet still add enough line to supply a fabulous show .

1.‘Big Blonde ’ coleus(Solenostemon scutellarioides‘Big Blonde ’ , Zone 11 )

2.Luscious ® Lemonade lantana(Lantana camara‘Robpwcrm ’ , Zones 9–11 )

3.‘Frosted ’ geranium(Pelargonium citrosum‘Frosted ’ , Zones 10–11 )

4.Golden dwarf sweet flag(Acorus gramineus‘Ogon ’ , zone 6–9 )

5.Superbells ® Yellow calibrachoa(Calibrachoa‘USCAL53002 ’ , annual )

Annuals provide coverage and add beauty

In my garden , annuals do two basal function : real - acres direction and beauty . I often use group of annual to handle the blank between woody plants and perennial as they mature . The annual allow heavy seasonal color in an region that would otherwise be bare mulch until the neighboring plants fill in . I implant few annuals as the uncommitted country shrinks and the lasting industrial plant reach maturity .

For my front - entering garden , I planted weeping white spruce and false cypress far enough apart so that they have plenty of way to mature into beautiful specimen . minor groups of flame nettle and canna lilies fill in the remain vacancy .

Achieving ravisher is a morsel trickier . Too many colors and varieties can create a confusing scene rather than one of peach . Even though my garden has evolve to let in countless varieties across the plant spectrum , I utilise simple theme to define what plants to include .

I trust to a great extent on foliage plants . Whether a works is an yearly or a perennial , its flower come in and go but its foliage is long lasting . This is evident in the coleus , canna lily , and flowering baccy combo in my front - accounting entry garden . When the flowering baccy finishes a flower oscillation , the leafage takes over and carries the weight . flower are the frosting , while foliage is the cake .

1 . ‘ Pendula ’ cry white spruce(Picea glauca‘Pendula ’ , Zones 2–6 )

2 . ‘ Red Ruffles ’ coleus(Solenostemon scutellarioides‘Red Ruffles ’ , Zone 11 )

3 . ‘ Australia ’ canna lily(Canna‘Australia ’ , zona 8–11 )

4 . ‘ gold Mop ’ false cypress(Chamaecyparis pisifera‘Golden Mop ’ , Zones 4–8 )

5 . Royal Queen ™ Purple iochroma(Iochroma cyaneum‘Purple Queen ’ , Zones 9–11 )

contrasting plants

6 . blossom tobacco(Nicotiana langsdorffii , annual )

7 . Summer Wave ® Blue torenia(Torenia‘SUNrenilabu ’ , annual )

Another utilitarian design scheme I habituate to make beauty is contrast plant schemes . A basic dark - versus - light plant combination can be used with any two strongly contrasting colour to produce bluff results . I begin off one of my streetside jazz group with a dynamical plant : ‘ Intrigue ’ canna lily ( Canna‘Intrigue ’ , Zones 8–11 ) . ‘ Intrigue ’ provide a contrast with the scant - toned variegate flowering maple ( Abutiloncv . , Zones 8–11 ) , while ‘ Tangletown ’s Dark Secret ’ flame nettle ( Solenostemon scutellarioides‘Tangletown ’s Dark Secret ’ , Zone 11 ) repeats the premature drear Burgundy wine .

When planting large region of yearly , it is important to also use repetition of color throughout the garden to tie different infinite together . Repetition render continuity and flow to a garden , and even though you may have a lot go on , it gives the garden a true sentiency of design . A potent foliation colour work best to accomplish this . The yellow leaf found in the coloured - versus - light jazz band , for illustration , is duplicated in a nearby jazz band , associate one unique intent back to another . With all that yearbook can accomplish , they will forever be a part of my ever - changing garden , ply an chance for a novel and unique look each season .

When it comes to plant linking, seeing is believing

This sample plant jazz band show up how simple plant linking can be . You could even take away one of the constituent and the group would still work .

Bold purple blooms provide a starting breaker point for plant linking .

insidious imperial veining links this plant to the iochroma , while yellow leaf institute demarcation .

Too many purple bloom ? Not when you add the subtle direct contrast of yellow throats .

There ’s room for more leaf . Golden leaves keep up the pattern .

Need more blooms ? Yellow flower petal and majestic throats supply repetition and contrast .

Dean Engelmann is cobalt - proprietor and hustler of Tangletown Gardens in Minneapolis .

Photos : Brandi Spade . Sidebar photos : courtesy of Dean Engelmann .

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‘Big Blonde’ coleus

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