Making the most of Summer Color

Most people mix lots of different plants and flower colors in the same basket or box, and it can look lovely. However, you’ll get some even better effects if you’re slightly more selective. Experiment with simple color schemes – warm colors like the gold, orange, and red look great together, as do cool blues and whites.

On the other hand, go for a blend of similar colors, for instance, white, pale pink, and rose pink. If you’re feeling more adventurous, the most striking schemes are based on really strong contrasts like yellow with purple, blue with orange, and red with green.

Flowering plants

Flowering plants are the obvious first choice for boxes and baskets, but there are some very pretty foliage plants that will add an extra splash of color. Look out, in particular, for varieties with bronze, gold, or white-variegated leaves. And silver-leaved plants like dusty miller and helichrysum blend beautifully with pink, white, or blue flowers.

It’s always difficult to judge which plants will look good together, but one of the easiest ways is to wander around the garden center, gathering up all the plants you think you might like and putting them in a window box or basket that is roughly the same size as the one you’ve got at home. If one plant or color doesn’t fit your scheme, then keep changing until you’ve got the perfect combination.

Of course, you don’t have to confine yourself to bedding plants -it’s fun to experiment with other types of plants as well. One of the prettiest baskets we’ve ever seen was crammed full of colorful herbs, a riot of golden marjoram, silver thyme, purple sage, daisy-flowered chamomile, and a few bright nasturtiums with their big, lily padlike leaves.

Another subtle but effective combination can be achieved with vegetables, which are often very ornamental and colorful. Plant a mix of frilly red-leaved lettuces along with ruby chard and radicchio. In cold climates, plant the box with red, pink, and white ornamental cabbages in late summer.

Making the most of Winter Color

At the end of summer, your plants will start to fade (and who can blame them – they must be exhausted). But don’t just empty the basket and leave it in the shed to hibernate – where winters are not too cold, give it a new lease on life.

From September onwards, garden centers sell a range of small evergreens, such as miniature conifers, which are ideal as replacements for the taller bedding plants in the center of the basket. Around these, plant colorful heathers, and winter-flowering pansies; and to give it some real pizazz for spring, don’t forget to pop in some dwarf bulbs. As a finishing touch, plant variegated trailing ivy around the edges.

The basket will look lovely from fall through late spring and as a bonus. You’ll find it needs far less care than a summer basket. There’s no need to feed it – just give it an occasional watering if it’s necessary for winter, then water more regularly in spring as the weather warms up.

Don’t give up on your window boxes either. One of the simplest schemes is a mass of winter-flowering pansies (it’s particularly effective if they’re everything being identical color) under planted with bulbs such as dwarf narcissus or species tulips. To add height put in some small evergreens – golden-leaved forms are especially good, since they will look bright and cheerful even in the depths of winter.