This year’s Garden Party game (which I just made) is a mashup of plants, design, and color theory. Here’s a color recipe for Pacific Northwest Gardens for each season. An impressive combination of 1, 2 or 3 plants for landscaping plots or composing flower pots. Whether you choose to follow the recipe step by step or approach each formula as just a starting point, we hope you find delicious combinations. Let’s dig in.
It’s winter. It’s dark. It’s cold. We humans instinctively approach heat and flame. Keep your plant bonfires burning with this trio of hardy shrubs that will ignite your winter landscape for months.
material
1. Among the dogwood twigs, “midwinter fire” (bloody horns ‘Midwinter Fire’) is particularly showy, with golden-stemmed bushes that gradually turn orange and deep red towards the plant tips during winter.
Growing up to 5 feet tall and 5 feet wide, this variety is smaller and more compact than other twig dogwoods. ‘Midwinter Fire’ is great for small gardens and multiple plants bring a nice seasonal character to larger landscapes. It requires little pruning, but can be maintained by cutting back the entire plant every 3-5 years or by regularly removing he quarter of the oldest stems in early spring.
During spring and summer, this dogwood is quiet with fresh green leaves and stems. Golden foliage sets the stage for the next embers. This plant grows well in shade to semi-shade and tolerates a wide variety of soil conditions.
2. nandina domestica ‘Firepower’ is a compact form of heavenly bamboo that forms a 2 x 2 foot mound of slightly wrinkled evergreen foliage toffee. New shoots turn lime green with a scarlet tint in spring and mature to a solid dark green in summer. “Fire” appears in autumn, turning the entire plant a deep red. The most dramatic colors are found in plants growing in full sun.
3. The dark green foliage of heather grounds this composition in winter and adds interest to our botanical recipes in spring and summer. Karna vulgaris The ‘Spring Torch’ glows reds and pinks, gradually turns to soft primrose yellow, and then returns to rich green in late summer when erect spiers of pale lavender flowers emerge. with similar habits, Resume. ‘Red Fred’ grows spectacularly in spring and produces dark pink flowers in late summer. Both heathers have mounding habits and grow to 2 by 2 feet.
Heather’s close relative ‘Springwood White’ Winter Heath (meat eric ‘Springwood White’) produces forest-like green foliage studded with white flowers all winter long. This short, trailing plant grows 6 to 12 inches tall and forms an excellent ground cover.
mix and combine
This winter planting is dominated by the verticality of twig dogwood, creating a visual and chromatic exclamation point in the landscape. Especially noticeable when placed among mixed evergreens.
Dogwood stems surrounded by dwarf nanten provide contrasting shapes while fanning the flames of color research. It settles into composition and integrates easily with other plantings.
Dark green heather (or heath) complements predominantly warm color palettes. In spring, the dogwoods are washed out with reddish-green foliage, and color interest shifts to new growth in heather, followed by blooms in late summer.