A simple guide to using colour in the garden

This guide will give you the knack to choosing flowers whether you want a quick modern update or are starting from scratch.

How to do it
The experts make colour in a garden look simple and effortless by sticking to an easy rule – they choose only hot colours or cool colours. It is the simplest trick in the book, but if you don't know it before hitting the garden centre you could end up with a multi-coloured scheme more suited to a kaleidoscope than a garden. And it's that simple – the hot colours such as oranges, reds and bright pinks come from the warm side of the traditional colour wheel and the cool colours, such as powder blues, lemon yellows, soft pinks and pale mauves come from cool side of the colour wheel.

But which sort of flowers?
Perennials are the best bet for low maintenance plants that provide lots of colour over a number of years. Annuals are another popular flower choice but live for just one summer season only, so not great for long term planning. Some biennials are good to mix in – they flower in one year then re-seed themselves for the following year. Bulbs and tubers provide summer colour and then flower again the following year.

The hot colours to use
Fiery orange * all reds * bright pinks * rich butter yellows * deep purples
Tip Hot colours love the sun so almost always used for sunny gardens

The cool colours to use
Powder blues * lemon yellows * soft pinks * pale mauves
White (not a colour but treated as one in the garden world)
Tip Cool colours do well in shaded gardens

The Plant guide
There are endless plants to choose from, but this list is designed to get you started, with a guide to height and the most popular options. There are several varieties of most plants that come in many different colours so double check when ordering on line or at your local garden centre that the type you are buying is the colour you want. A good example of this is the Dahlia – it comes in several choices of colour and size.

The hot colour plants

Height - Medium
Red Poppies (papaver), Pelargoniums, Verbena
Yellow Sneezewort (helenium), Rudbeckia (black eye susan),
Orange Geum, Cosmos, Lilly (lilium)
Pink Bergamot (monarda), Phlox,
Purple Salvia, Catmint (nepeta), False or Wild indigo (baptisia)

Height - Tall
Reds Dahlia, Red hot pokers (Kniphofia), Lupins
Yellows Achillea, Dahlia, Ligularia
Oranges Cannas, Chrysanthemums
Pinks Foxgloves (digitalis), Echinacea
Purple Verbena, Delphiniums

Cutting edge look Plant just reds and purples

The cool colour plants

Height - Medium
Blues & mauves Himalayan blue poppy (meconopsis), Alliums, Aster daisies,
Lemon Pprimroses (primula), Ranunculus buttercup, Kniphofia
Pinks Carnations (dianthus), Lenton rose pink (helleborus), Gypsophila,
Whites Shatsa daisies, Gypsophila, Scabiosa

Height - Tall
Blues & mauves Agapanthus, Delphiniums, Verbenia, Alliums
Lemons Foxgloves, Verbascums
Pinks Lupins, Verbascums
Whites African lilly (agapanthus), Hollyhocks (alcea), Bellflower (campanula)

Cutting edge look Plant just lemon & mauves

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