10 Garden Designs for Different Color Schemes

Color is one of the most exciting parts of the garden and the first thing our eyes process when we take in a space. It’s also one of the most impactful tools for creating the garden’s aesthetic and unifying the landscape. Using a consistent color scheme of complementary or contrasting hues links garden plantings through repetition and variety.

There’s a lot to color theory, first developed by Leonardo da Vinci, to draw relationships between colors in nature. Sir Isaac Newton created the color wheel to demonstrate color combinations. In garden design, these offer guidelines for color-based decisions for successful combinations. Here, we’ll explore central color schemes with accompanying plant selections as garden examples.

Color in the Garden

The main priority in developing your garden color scheme is to choose colors that appeal to you and the mood you want the garden to convey. Vibrant colors like reds, oranges, and yellows energize and activate a space, while pastels and whites lend peace and serenity. 

Look at colors that complement the house to create cohesion and harmony between the home and garden. These may be blended hues, similar colors, or a striking contrast of opposite shades. Repeat your color scheme throughout the yard in sweeps or patches for impact. This repetition unifies the landscape, regardless of garden size or whether a driveway, path, or specimen tree divides it.

Incorporate plants of varying heights and textures for a layered landscape of trees, shrubs, and perennials, and embellish with annuals for high color. For all-season appeal, include plants with color at varying times of year. Spring and summer abound with options; look to foliage color and late-season bloomers for fall interest and fruits, berries, and winter bloomers for cool-season color.

Monochromatic Garden Color Schemes

Monochromatic designs rely on a single color in a variety of hues, shades, and tints. Repeating the same color is an easy way to harmonize the landscape, unifying the aesthetic while adding interest through varying light and dark shades. A mix of foliage, form, and texture makes the design dynamic.

Victorian-era creations of color-themed gardens revolve around hues of a particular color arrangement. The Gilded Age revived this concept, and it always stayed in style. Blues, pinks, and whites became central themes of a single planting arrangement. 

Blue

Blue gardens appeal to our senses of sight and smell. Originally designed in mass plantings of all shades of blue, sweeping plantings create an unbeatable sea of pleasing shades. 

Cool blue blooms contrast beautifully with dark green, lime, and silvery foliage. Spring flowering bulbs like hyacinths and bluebells make an easy blue-inspired planting with a significant impact. 

Hydrangea ‘Bloomstruck’

	botanical name Hydrangea macrophylla ‘PIIHM-II’ PP25,556
	sun requirements Partial shade
	height 3-4’
	hardiness zones 4-9

Hydrangeas add a bounty of blooms to the landscape, their summer flowers overflowing against a leafy backdrop. They create an unparalleled show of white, blue, and pink flower clusters in panicles, lacecaps, or mophead forms.

For a blue-themed garden, opt for a gorgeous bigleaf hydrangea cultivar like ‘Bloomstruck,’ ‘Nikko Blue,’ or ‘Blue Wave,’ among others. ‘Bloomstruck’ is part of the popular Endless Summer series, the first hydrangeas to bloom on both old and new wood. These cold-hardy, repeat bloomers begin blooming in late spring and early summer and continue throughout the warm season.

‘Blue Wave’ is one of the hardiest hydrangeas, with lacecap blooms that fade to pink as they mature. ‘Nikko Blue’ boasts mophead flowers that start light green and transition to blue. Glossy large leaves complement the showy blooms on the bigleaf cultivars.

Hydrangeas prefer partial shade and dappled sunlight. Ensure consistent moisture throughout the growing season. True to their name, hydrangeas need regular water to thrive.

Agapanthus

	botanical name Agapanthus africanus
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1-3’
	hardiness zones 8-11

Agapanthus produces lovely rounded clusters of bell blooms atop tall stems. Depending on the cultivar, agapanthus flowers are blue, lavender, or white and rise above deep green, strappy leaves. Each umbel holds 20 to 100 flowers. 

Evergreen, arching leaves are thick and glossy, attractive even when agapanthus aren’t in flower. With its airy blooms, agapanthus makes excellent border plantings and container specimens. 

Agapanthus grows best in full sun to partial shade. It’s an adaptable perennial native to southern Africa, tolerant of drought and heat. Ideal soils, though, are fertile, moist, and well-drained. In cold climates, overwinter agapanthus indoors, where it grows well as a houseplant in bright light.

Rosemary

	botanical name Salvia rosmarinus
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 4-5’
	hardiness zones 8-10

Rosemary brings form and fragrance to the garden, with scads of blue blooms covering evergreen stems in the summer. Herby foliage is highly aromatic, perfect for clipping for scent and culinary goodness.

A Mediterranean plant, rosemary thrives in full sun with very well-draining soil. It’s a drought-tolerant, carefree perennial with multi-season appeal.

Look for upright varieties like ‘Barbecue’ or ‘Arp’ for a stiff texture. Cascading forms like ‘Huntington Carpet’ trail and spill to soften garden spaces.

White

White gardens provide cooling respite and peace, a break from more colorful garden areas. They highlight silver, gray, white, and green shades. The most famous white garden originates at England’s Sissinghurst Castle, introducing an elegant and pure garden theme.

Look to dogwoods, silverbells, and serviceberry for layered plantings for vertical interest.

White annuals & flowering bulbs like daffodils, snowdrops, and tulips make gorgeous accents to a white-themed garden. Silvery foliage like artemisia and dusty miller enhance the display. 

Add a dash of occasional dark purple if you dare (alternanthera, strobilanthes, and dark sweet potato vine make good accents). Night-blooming plants like cereus and datura grow beautifully in white gardens for a moonlit glow.

Gardenia

	botanical name Gardenia jasminoides
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 4-8’
	hardiness zones 7-11

Gardenias feature bright white blossoms that pop against their dark green, glossy leaves. The intensely fragrant flowers fade to creamy white or yellow as they age. 

Gardenias bloom in late spring and early summer (and year-round in warm climates). Gardenias are available in numerous cultivars for size, form, and flowering. Some of these evergreen shrubs grow large and bushy, while others are dwarf and arching.

Gardenias are best suited for gardens in the American South. They require acidic, well-drained, consistently moist soils. They’ll grow as container specimens in colder climates, overwintering indoors. A bit finicky, potted gardenias do best if moved outside as soon as temperatures warm in spring.

Ginger Lily

	botanical name Hedychium spp.
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 3-6’
	hardiness zones 7-10

Ginger lilies bear whirling blooms atop leafy stalks with a sweet summer fragrance. Flowers in crisp white emerge in clusters, and each blossom resembles a butterfly in petal arrangement and with long stamens.

In the white-themed garden, ginger lilies provide a bright tropical backdrop to other flowering perennials. Ginger lilies are tough plants where hardy and grow as annuals or container plantings in cold climates.

Ginger lilies do best in full sun in moist, organically rich soils with good drainage. They spread by rhizomes; cut and dig roots to control growth if the spread and density become too great. 

Feverfew

	botanical name Tanacetum parthenium
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1-3′
	hardiness zones 5-8

Feverfew is an old garden favorite with bushels of petite daisy-like flowers, aromatic foliage, and herbal uses. Blooms cover the mounding plants from early summer through frost. Foliage is feathery with a high fragrance.

Sun-loving feverfew is easy to grow in moist, well-drained soils. It self-seeds hardily, so pull any unwanted volunteers and deadhead spent blooms to prevent unwanted seeding. Deadheading also proliferates flowering.

Use feverfew in naturalized areas where it can reseed freely or in borders and rock gardens. Clip feverfew throughout the flowering season to enjoy in floral arrangements and to bring its fresh, camphor scent indoors.

Pink

Pink gardens bring subtle, delicate tones along with vivid punches of color, depending on the pigment. This rosy hue gained popularity in the Victorian era as roses became increasingly cultivated, and the language of flowers was a regular study. Flowers hold meaning as they have for centuries, and the Victorians used flowers symbolically to communicate sentiment. Pink represents grace, gentleness, playfulness, and happiness. 

Viburnum

	botanical name Viburnum × bodnantense ‘Dawn’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 8-10’
	hardiness zones 5-7

Viburnum species provide fragrant and colorful blooms and garden interest in all seasons. Flowers appear in small clusters or luscious snowballs in white to rich pink hues. 

Viburnum × bodnantense ‘Dawn’ is a winter bloomer with rosy-pink tubular flowers that give way to red berries that turn dark in the summer. Viburnum carlesii, or Korean spice viburnum, is showy with snowball clusters of pink blossoms that mature to white. Both selections boast a sweet, spicy fragrance.

Viburnum tends to be a low-maintenance, easy-care shrub with multiseason appeal. They prefer average soils that are neither too moist nor too damp. 

Peony ‘Sarah Bernhardt’

	botanical name Paeonia lactiflora ‘Sarah Bernhardt’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-3′
	hardiness zones 3-8

The dreamy peony flower is among the most decadent in the garden, and the historic ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ is no exception. Huge, fully-petaled pink blooms feature fuchsia flecks and a sweet fragrance of floral and citrus notes. 

‘Sarah Bernhardt’ showcases prolific flowering, massive blooms, and a robust habit, earning it the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. It is also drought tolerant, cold-hardy, and a long-lived garden performer.

Peonies abound in purple, pink, yellow, and white. Plant them in full sun, with some afternoon protection from direct rays. They grow best in moist, well-drained soils.

Garden Phlox

	botanical name Phlox paniculata
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-4’
	hardiness zones 4-8

Garden phlox is a lovely staple of the perennial bed, brightening the summer garden with tall domes of pink flowers. It’s a showy and fragrant native perennial that attracts butterflies and hummingbirds with flowers from summer until frost.

The ‘Fashionably Early’ series is a hybrid selection of tall garden phlox with an early and long-lasting bloom time and exceptional disease resistance. ‘Fashionably Early Princess’ is rich pink, and ‘Fashionably Early Flamingo’ bears bright pink flowers.

For best growth, phlox needs organically rich, well-drained soils in full sun to partial shade. Deadhead spent blooms to encourage reblooming. Ensure good air circulation and remove any dropped plant material in late fall to prevent mildew diseases in the coming seasons.

Analogous Garden Color Scheme

Analogous colors are next to each other on the color wheel. The shades share common properties of blended primary colors and naturalize beautifully for a visually harmonious arrangement.

Red, red-orange, yellow, and yellow-orange are examples of analogous colors. Using them in garden design means incorporating light and dark variations of these, like pinks, apricots, golds, and deep reds – and everything in between as you choose. As long as the colors are in the same family, they’ll blend successfully. The look of analogous schemes can be warm or cool, depending on the selection of adjacent colors. 

Peach Shades

Here, we’ll incorporate plants with peachy tones for a crisp, warm, inviting garden scheme. Orange, yellows, and white create peach shades. Peach is neutral among other hues in the garden, and analogous peach hues create a dreamy garden aesthetic.

Rose ‘Peach DriftⓇ’

	botanical name Rosa ‘MEIggili’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 1.5’
	hardiness zones 4-7

DriftⓇ roses are ground cover roses with florific vigor and disease resistance. Rosa ‘Peach Drift’ creates a carpet of soft peach blooms among dark green, lustrous foliage. Clusters of petite double flowers bloom nonstop from spring until the first hard frost.

Exceptionally easy to care for and disease-resistant, drift roses withstand high heat, humidity, and cold winters. They need little else than full sun and rich, moist, and well-draining soils.

Available in numerous colors, these star performers make excellent border, walkway, and container plantings. They’ll bloom all season without much of a break.

Heuchera ‘Peachberry Ice’

	botanical name Heuchera ‘Peachberry Ice’
	sun requirements Full sun to full shade
	height 8-10”
	hardiness zones 4-9

Heuchera, or coral bells, are North American native perennials, mostly evergreen in warmer climates. Prized for their foliage, heuchera hybrids have green, purple, bronze, black, red, or orange leaves, often in mottled tones. Their showy leaves add exciting visual interest and high contrast to the garden, brightening shady spots.

Heuchera offers many selections in peach shades. ‘Peachberry Ice’ features large, ruffled leaves in rich peach and mellow orange. Heuchera ‘Georgia Peach’ has large, rounded leaves in silvery peach with deep rose tints and venation. It tolerates heat and humidity and handles sunny conditions.

Grow coral bells in a dappled shade area of the garden. They’ll need rich, organic soils with good drainage.

Astilbe ‘Peach Blossom’

	botanical name Paeonia japonica ‘Peach Blossom’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2’
	hardiness zones 4-9

Astilbe brightens the shade garden with frothy, foamy, colorful plumes in summer. This long-lived perennial is a garden favorite for its unique form and color in shade situations.

Astilbe japonica ‘Peach Blossom’ is a Japanese astilbe loaded with bloom spikes in peach shades with touches of pink. Japanese astilbe features glossy green leaves with tinges of red and dense, pyramidal bloom spikes. ‘Peach Blossom’ is an early-season bloomer.

Plant astilbe in groups for impact and pair with hosta, columbine, ferns, and heuchera. Seed heads develop post-bloom for lasting garden interest. Astilbe is relatively easy to grow in evenly moist soil.

Complementary Garden Color Scheme

Complementary colors lie opposite each other on the color wheel. The human eye processes them in high contrast (think violet and yellow, orange and blue, and red and green). We often see this in single flowers, where a yellow eye dots purple petals. The dynamic juxtaposition enriches the look. This color scheme includes shades and hues from soft and mellow to vibrant and rich, or both!

Violet and Yellow

We’ll explore a few plants in shades of violet and vibrant yellow for a striking contrast. To allow the eye to adjust, use more of one color as dominant in the planting arrangement.

Heliotrope

	botanical name Heliotropium arborescens
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1-2’
	hardiness zones 9-11

Heliotrope brings a burst of deep violet blooms and dark green leaves. These, and its sweet fragrance, make this old-fashioned annual a garden favorite. Flat clusters of star-shaped flowers in purple-blue or lavender cover compact plants from spring until frost.

Heliotrope is low maintenance, though it blooms best in sunny garden locations with protection from direct afternoon sun in hot summer climates. Intense heat stresses heliotrope, and high humidity leads to powdery mildew. 

Ensure good air circulation and take care not to overwater heliotrope, as it prefers rich, consistently moist soils. Heliotrope’s carefree growth, rich blooms, and vanilla, fruity scent bring long-lasting interest to the annual display.

Coreopsis

	botanical name Coreopsis spp.
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1-5’
	hardiness zones 4-10

Coreopsis energizes the garden with a profusion of sunshine-yellow blooms. It’s one of the first flowers to spring up and the last to fade. At its peak in mid-summer, waves of yellow brighten the landscape.

Lance-leaved coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata) is the most common coreopsis with signature feathery golden ray petals with yellow centers. Easy to grow, C. lanceolata is winter-hardy and drought-tolerant.

Coreopsis reseeds readily in the landscape. It’s a favorite nectar and pollen source for bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. Songbirds forage on the seeds in fall and winter.

Aster

	botanical name Aster spp., Symphyotrichum spp.
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 6″-8′
	hardiness zones 3-8

Asters, native to North America, are easy-to-grow garden mainstays with deep blue-purple, daisy-like flowers with contrasting yellow centers. They’ll put on a showy display well into fall as other blooming plants begin to fade.

Asters’ late-season blooms support pollinators in the seasonal transition from summer to fall. The late blanket of color bridges the garden display with an infusion of color.

Asters prefer consistently moist, organically rich soils, though some are drought tolerant. Allow good air circulation and ensure soils have good drainage to prevent foliar diseases.

Primary Garden Color Scheme

Primary color schemes use red, yellow, and blue in varying shades and tints to create a smooth blend in the garden. They provide vibrant contrast and complement to energize the garden and invite exploration.

Red, Yellow, and Blue

Feature varying hues of each color in a mass planting for a vibrant display. Here, we’ll look at bold bloom examples in vibrant pigments, but any tint or shade of the primary colors works beautifully. Tone them down or punch them up as it works for your garden. 

Geraniums

	botanical name Pelargonium x hortorum
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1-3’
	hardiness zones 9-11

Cherry red geraniums are iconic garden classics. The rich, color-saturated flowers and true green, ruffly leaves of the common garden geranium are unmistakable. Thick stems hold vivid bloom clusters above leafy branches. 

Geraniums need at least four to six hours of sunlight for best blooming. Offer protection from direct afternoon sun in hot climates. They thrive with regular water in well-drained soils, allowing the soil to dry out slightly between waterings.

Geraniums make stunning mass border plantings or container specimens. Pinch off spent blooms to encourage more flowers and for a full, leafy plant.

Heliopsis

	botanical name Heliopsis helianthoides
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-5’
	hardiness zones 3-9

Heliopsis, commonly called oxeye or false sunflower, is native to the central and eastern United States. In summer through fall, golden sunflower-like blooms with fuzzy yellow button centers rise above deep green leaves.

Heliopsis’ showy flowers attract bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Birds eat the seeds post-bloom, and leftovers will self-seed.

Stiff, sturdy stems grow to five feet, while dwarf varieties fit smaller spaces. Heliopsis adapts to various soil conditions, making it an unfussy, easy-to-grow perennial.

Ageratum

	botanical name Ageratum houstonianum
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 6-30”
	hardiness zones 2-11

Ageratum, or floss flower, features tufts of true blue flowers that bloom from May through October. The genus Ageratum holds approximately 43 species of annual or perennial herbs.

A. houstonianum is noted for its blue, feathery bloom clusters, which add a soft haze to the garden display. The floss flower’s delicate look and delightful fragrance add to its charm.

Ageratum is somewhat drought-tolerant but performs best in moist, well-drained soil. Grow them in sunny to dappled light garden locations. 

Pastel Garden Color Scheme

Like pink gardens, pastel shades create a romantic look that soothes the senses. Another Victorian-era inspiration, pastel themes rely on soft and delicate hues to blend the garden beautifully.

Use splashes of silvery foliage as a backdrop for pastel shades. Russian sage, artemisia, dusty miller, and lamb’s ear make glittery additions. The beauty of pastels is that the muted hues all go together. For this sweet color scheme, let’s look at a few heirloom and classic garden favorites.

Lilac

	botanical name Syringa vulgaris
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 8-16’
	hardiness zones 3-7

Lilacs welcome spring with clusters of lavender panicle blooms and a glorious fragrance. Their fluffy blossoms produce nectar that attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees.

There are hundreds of lilac cultivars with single or double blooms ranging from creamy white to rose to purple. Highly aromatic, their intense fragrance fills the garden.

Lilacs need cold winters to set buds and don’t do as well in climates with high heat and humidity. Try those bred for improved heat tolerance in southern zones like Syringa patula ‘Miss Kim’ or Syringa × hyacinthiflora.

Rose ‘Duchesse de Brabant’

	botanical name Rosa ‘Duchesse de Brabant’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 4-6’
	hardiness zones 7-9

‘Duchesse de Brabant’ holds decadent double blooms in a delicate rose pink with a classic, old garden rose fragrance. The nodding blooms grace an upright, slightly spreading shrub rose form.

‘Duchesse’ blooms in flushes throughout spring, summer, and fall. It’s well-suited to warmer climates, where it blooms even longer. It boasts exceptional disease resistance and tolerates heat and humidity.

‘Duchesse de Brabant’ is an Earth-KindⓇ rose rigorously tested for landscape performance, without pesticides, and with low water requirements. Like all roses, ‘Duchesse’ benefits from good air circulation and well-draining soils.

Russian Sage

	botanical name Salvia yangii
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 2-4’
	hardiness zones 5-9

Russian sage shimmers in the pastel garden with silvery stems, gray-green leaves, and sprays of purple-blue blooms. Even when not in flower, it provides a graceful backdrop to soft hues. Tubular blooms lace tall stems to create an airy quality among the delicate foliage. 

Russian sage blooms reliably from summer until frost. It earned the Perennial Plant Association’s Perennial Plant of the Year award for its performance and showy form, 

Grow Russian sage in full sun and well-draining soils to prevent fungal root rot. ‘Denim in Lace’ and ‘Crazy Blue’ are disease-resistant varieties suited for climates with high humidity and rainfall. Russian sage performs beautifully in high heat with dry conditions.

Multicolor Garden Color Scheme

Multicolor, or complex schemes, create a riot of color in the garden for a lively, energized landscape. A blend of multiple colors is the hardest to pull off for a unified design; the human eye generally looks for a focal point or a place to rest, and a mixed scheme may lack this. Use color repetition to anchor the design. Repeat colors consistently for harmony, and consider using one as a dominant repetitive occurrence over the others.

Here, we’ll use zinnias, cosmos, and yarrow as examples —excellent cutting and cottage garden plants. They lend a wild, naturalized look to the garden in a colorful array. Repeating a single color of yarrow throughout a mix of colorful cosmos and zinnias helps to punctuate the scheme.

Zinnia

	botanical name Zinnia elegans
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 1-3’
	hardiness zones 2-11

Zinnias bring dynamic color to the annual display with their large, vibrant, double-disc flowers. The blooms range in color from white to magenta to lime. Heat-loving zinnias bloom nonstop from early summer through frost.

Zinnias grow easily from seed, and mixes contain a wide variety of colors for any multicolor scheme. While not required, they respond well to deadheading and cutting for fresh floral arrangements. More blooms will follow.

Zinnias need good air circulation, well-drained soil, and full sun for best health. In areas like the South with high heat and humidity, try disease-resistant varieties like the tall ‘Queeny Lime’ and ‘Profusion,’ a dwarf zinnia loaded with successional blooms. 

Cosmos

	botanical name Cosmos spp.
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 1-6’
	hardiness zones 2-11

Like zinnias, sun-loving cosmos produce loads of colorful blooms throughout the warm season. Ray flowers “float” on tall, airy stems. Daisy-like flowers in vivid shades of yellow, apricot, bright pink, lavender, red, and chocolate (and many more) grow easily with little care. 

Cosmos reseed naturally and grow in hot, dry conditions with variable soils. They need no fuss; too much water, fertilizer, and organic richness hinders plant vigor.

Grow cosmos quickly from seed in drier spots of the garden – the more, the better, for color and to attract pollinators. The delicate flowers make a more significant statement en masse.

Yarrow ‘Red Velvet’

	botanical name Achillea millefolium ‘Red Velvet’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 30”
	hardiness zones 3-9

Yarrow is a native North American perennial with large, flat flower heads that rise in clusters above feathery, fernlike foliage. It thrives in the heat, making it a good partner for zinnias and cosmos. Using a single color of yarrow among multicolor mixes helps unify the arrangement through repetition. Its contrasting texture adds variety.

Achillea ‘Red Velvet’ is a rich, red dazzler with prolific bloom clusters atop sturdy stems. Its form remains compact, and flowers retain their vibrant hue without fading as they age. 

There are many outstanding yarrow cultivars in varying heights and colors. This low-maintenance, full-sun, drought-tolerant plant needs little more than a sunny spot with well-draining soil to flourish.

Dark and Dramatic Color Scheme

A rich color scheme evokes drama and romance in the garden and lots of fun and unique plants to explore. Velvety reds, maroons, deep purple, and chocolates create a moody style reminiscent of Victorian Gothic gardens.

Incorporate trees with dark foliage or flowers for a striking vertical layer to add interest. Smoke trees, redbuds, Japanese maples, and chocolate mimosas add dramatic flare.

Weigela ‘Wine and Roses’

	botanical name Weigela florida ‘Wine and Roses’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 4-5’
	hardiness zones 4-8

Weigela harkens on old-fashioned gardens with flowering hedgerows. It’s an ornamental flowering shrub with modern selections in varying sizes and colors. 

‘Wine and Roses’ features deep burgundy-green leaves and rose-pink blooms. This cultivar is darker than its predecessors, with shiny purple leaves all season. Flowers flush profusely in late spring and free flower throughout the summer. The trumpet blooms attract hummingbirds and other pollinators.

‘Wine and Roses’ is the recipient of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Gold Medal Award. Weigela is generally disease-free and easy to grow in full sun in soils with medium moisture. 

Dahlia ‘Spartacus’

	botanical name Dahlia ‘Spartacus’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 4-5’
	hardiness zones 8-11

Dahlia ‘Spartacus’ makes a bold statement in the garden. Its deep, velvety red flowers reach eight to ten inches in diameter and atop strong stems. Ruffly flower petals curve slightly for a full, decorative bloom.

‘Spartacus’ is considered a dinnerplate dahlia due to its huge blooms (the size of literal dinner plates). It dominates the garden on towering stalks four to five feet tall. Gardeners prize ‘Spartacus’ for its robust growth, adaptability, and competition-worthy excellence as a cut flower.

Dahlias grow as annuals where they are not winter hardy. They perform beautifully in full sun with well-drained, loamy soils. Dinnerplate dahlias like ‘Spartacus’ may need staking because of their height and weighty blooms.

Hollyhock ‘Nigra’

	botanical name Alcea rosea ‘Nigra’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 5-8’
	hardiness zones 2-9

Hollyhocks are old-fashioned garden biennials or short-lived perennials with stunning summer blooms along tall, straight stems. The heirloom ‘Nigra’ features deep, chocolate-red blooms on stems that reach five to eight feet tall.

‘Nigra’ is a dramatic garden addition both in stature and color. Stake bloom stalks and shelter tall stems from the wind. Hollyhocks grow in gorgeous colors and sizes, perfect for the cutting garden and the back of the border. 

Hollyhocks grow best in full sun with moist, rich soils. Because hollyhocks reseed vigorously, they are invasive in some areas.

Foliage-Inspired Scheme

Foliage and texture are key components of any planting scheme. Leaf colors create a color scheme of their own, and beautiful foliage combinations make impactful garden designs. They can be monochromatic with blended shades of green or combined with foliage in blues, silvers, and purples for high contrast.

Hosta

	botanical name Hosta spp.
	sun requirements Partial to full shade
	height 4-30″
	hardiness zones 3-9

Hostas enrich the shade garden with lush, sculptural leaves. Their leaf shapes range from broad to strappy to curly, offering textural contrast and visual interest. Diverse tones of blue-green, emerald, and variegated foliage make hosta a versatile choice among foliage-inspired color themes.

Hosta grace the garden in seemingly endless varieties, unmatched in unique foliage. Tall bloom scapes emerge in early summer in lavender and white, floating above the leafy base and attracting hummingbirds.

Hostas prefer partial to full-shade garden locations. Morning sun benefits bright or variegated varieties to promote color. Provide well-draining soil with consistent moisture, especially early in the growing season, as plants get established or break dormancy.

Persian Shield

	botanical name Strobilanthes dyerianus
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1-3’
	hardiness zones 10-11

Strobilanthes, or Persian shield, is a striking tropical plant with iridescent purple leaves edged in deep green. The long, lance-shaped leaves reach a full color of metallic royal purple and yield a lush look indoors or out, ideal for growing in containers or as a warm-season annual. 

Consider using strobilanthes in foliar contrast to variegated, lime, or chartreuse foliage. Its colorful foliage combines nicely with silver plants like dusty miller and artemisia and with white, lavender, or purple flowers. Yellow blooms give the perfect pop for vibrant contrast to darker leaves.

Grow strobilanthes in full sun in northern climates, with partial shade or dappled light in southern zones (or at least with protection from bright afternoon sun). It grows quickly with regular water in rich, organic soils.

Artemisia

	botanical name Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 2-3’
	hardiness zones 6-9

Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ features silver, feathery foliage, and a loosely mounding form. This hybrid perennial differs from its mugwort relatives because it doesn’t spread as aggressively. Its fine texture and gray leaves add variety to the planting arrangement. 

‘Powis Castle’ thrives in full sun and well-drained soil. It’s a rugged perennial and tolerates drought but withers in overly wet conditions. In high heat and humidity or periods of prolonged saturation, leaves may wilt and drop.

Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ spreads through rhizomes, creating tufted mounds of silvery gray foliage. When brushed, it has a camphor scent. ‘Powis Castle’ is ideal specimens in the perennial border, white or pastel garden, or mixed foliage display.