The Colorful Garden: Adding Color to Your Garden
Add a pop of yellow and orange to your garden with these plants.
August/September 2004
By Kathleen Halloran
An herb garden is generally a peaceful place of
muted colors, a sea of soft purples and mauves, whites and grays.
But sometimes a silly splash of color is just what’s needed to
brighten a dark corner, welcome guests at the entryway or bring a
smile to the face of anyone strolling by.
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Some gardeners turn up their noses at the mere thought of
orange, which they regard as gaudy and somehow low-class. But one
look at a color wheel makes an obvious point about the color orange
— it is the perfect foil for the more sedate blues and purples.
When used together, these two color families sing. Try a spot of
reddish-orange or an orangey yellow next to the blue-purple flowers
of salvia, hyssop or lamb’s-ears, or among the deep bronze of a
‘Blackie’ sweet potato vine, or as a bright accent in front of a
blue-flowered clematis. The orange adds energy and pop as it draws
the eye to the colors and textures that surround it.
Three herbs that abundantly display this cheerful hue are
calendula, nasturtium and sunflowers — all annuals that can be
grown and enjoyed for a summer, then replaced with something else
if the gardener gets tired of their gaudy joy. All can be grown
from seed, which makes them easy and inexpensive to use in this
way. They are relatively carefree, and once established they
require little of the gardener beyond occasional watering, weeding
and a dollop of fertilizer to fuel their rapid growth and energetic
flowering. If grown in containers, they can lend a colorful
presence wherever they’re needed. All three are also useful plants,
for those who want to harvest more than just happiness from a
garden.
These three herbs have very distinctive personalities.
Calendula, the Grandma
Calendula (Calendula officinalis), also known as pot marigold,
is like an old-fashioned, dependable grandma. A hard worker in the
garden or in a container, it blooms heavily and continuously from
spring through frost. This reliability of bloom accounts for its
name: The ancient Romans called it “calendula” because it was in
flower on the “calends,” or new moon, of every month. Calendula was
considered the first marigold (although that more familiar garden
flower is now classed as a Tagetes).
A member of the aster family, calendula has perky ray flowers
that stand up and cheer, borne singly atop 18- to 24-inch stems
covered with fine hairs. Modern calendulas come in the range of
flower color from pale yellow (‘Lemon’) to deep gold (‘Chrysantha’)
and brilliant orange (such as ‘Orange Prince’ and ‘Bon Bon
Orange’); doubled forms are also available, as is one with
variegated foliage.
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