WHATEVER COLOURS YOU HAVE IN YOUR MIND

When I first started my garden, I had a vision of white. I wanted a white garden like the famous one in Sissinghurst in England planted by Vita Sackville West. At dusk, she said, the white flowers glow in the lengthening shadows creating a romantic, moonlight ambience.

The White Garden. I bought white peonies, white lilacs, white Sir Galahad Pacific Giant delphiniums and two white apple trees as a start. The white flowers, especially the arabis, did glow like lanterns in the magic hours of the long Thunder Bay twilight. Unfortunately, Vita forgot to mention mosquitoes. They too emerge at dusk, the time when northern gardeners are not strolling about but moving briskly, hands flailing. During the heat of the day when I was enjoying the garden, the white flowers seemed monotonous and insignificant among the greenery. I longed for some drama, some eye candy.

I decide to go colour. However, my work was not lost. The white perennials gave me a good start. White must be part of any garden, not only for its evening glow but because it brightens and sets off other colours. Traditionally, two other colours are added to white to create a palette.

Hot or cool? There are hot gardens and cool gardens. The hot gardens use yellow/orange/white or red/yellow/white or any other hot duo plus white.. I went cool, choosing a pink/blue/white combo. (Some gardeners go so far as to make a distinction between the two shades of pink, the yellow-pink of bleeding heart and the red-pink of peony. It is at this point I think that a garden becomes an exercise in aesthetics rather than a living and changing work of art)

A Walk to Hillcrest. A blue/pink/white bed of annuals planted at Hillcrest Park caught my eye. This park is a good place to muse on colour combinations. It seemed to me that blue/pink/white produced a dainty feminine feeling. I thought the yellow/blue/white grouping was homey and cheerful; the red/blue/white brassy; the orange/yellow/white used too many marigolds. This is all subjective stuff. Colours affect everyone differently.

The Pinks. I added pink peonies, lilies, tulips, roses and a big bleeding heart to my back yard. I learned that there are an unlimited number of pink plants including pink lilacs, pink delphiniums and many, many pink annuals such as lavatera, godetica, and sweet william. One year I went wild with pink pansies. I also learned that many plants sold as pink are really magenta!

The Blues. I planted blue KIng Arthus Pacific Giant delphiniums to go with the white ones as well as blue true geranium and many Siberian iris. I learned that many plants sold as blue are really purple!

White is easy to add to a garden. I added white lilies, sea lavender, campanula and Shasta daisies and many white annuals. Generally, plants sold as white are really white.

I worked on my colour scheme for eight years and I was pleased with the results. But it all but came to a crashing halt one dreadful winter when the garden was destroyed but that is another story.

Tip. Place the lighter coloured flowers at the end of the garden. Put the big white blooms (goats beard, peony, white phlox ) back there where they can be seen from the house.