By Pam Richards
Imagine—in
your mind’s eye—a warm summer evening outdoors in a garden you’ve planted in
warm shades of orange. (This is an image that will help you through next
winter!) If you were to plant such a garden, this is how it might look.
Three
‘Tamora’ roses bloom beside a garden path, each flower a scoop of delectable
orange sherbert surrounded by cream. A froth of white perennial geraniums
surround them, and in July an orange lily (like the amazing ‘Cathedral Windows’
or ‘Loreto’—an apricot flower whose petals are blotched with purple) will bloom
above the cranesbill. At the beginning of the path is a small hebe
covered in white, and at the end an orange honeysuckle rapidly scaling a pillar
of a rusting metal arbor.
Like
many David Austen roses ‘Tamora’ is a soft sweet orange, (however just last
week the flowers had a pink tint to them). The white of the geranium and
hebe, and the pure orange of the honeysuckle and lily surround and set off the
roses. This look lasts all summer, providing color and scent and a gentle
beauty.
Elsewhere,
a drought garden features Agastache ‘Apricot Sunrise’, a solid orange, or A. rupestris—orange and purple—to provide color and
spicy scent throughout the summer. Agastache—or hyssop—is two to three
feet tall, a mass of fine stems covered with tiny flowers and pointed
leaves. The foliage is gray-green, so a silvery prairie-scented Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’
behind them further sets off the flowers;
and a gray-leaved santolina makes a good edging. Add mounds of lavender and Ballota acetabulosa ‘All Hallow’s
Green’—the chartreuse
foliage will pop amid the gray and purple.
At
a distance from the agastache, but still in the drought garden, plant an
orange-flowering achillea (yarrow), another summer-long bloomer. The
orange flowers of yarrow fade to terra cotta, and the plant itself is stiff;
surround it with Nasella
tenuissima (Mexican
feather grass), a knee-high grass that sways in any breeze and turns orange-yellow
in the fall. A nearby cluster of butterfly-winged, deep-purple flowering
lavender ‘Quasti’ adds to the drama.
Finally,
in the drought garden accent an orange-flowering crocosmia (montbretia) with Lavandula
viridis, a lavender with yellow flowers and
lemon scent. A tall, purple-red allium could bloom among the lavender in
early summer, and a bronze fennel behind them would add a punch of color and
another fragrance later in the season.
Orange
comes in a variety of shades, from hot orange-red to serene peach to warm
salmon-pink. When combining shades of orange flowers, I like to buy them
in bloom so I know the hues will work together. Lime, purple, pure red,
or a brilliant yellow perform with bold oranges, creating a spirited garden to
accent with bright glass spheres floating in a pond and dotted with rusted
metal structures. Plant an orange echinacea in front of Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Coppertina’,
a large shrub with black
foliage that glows with traces of coppery orange. The opulence of the shrub
and the delight of the orange echinacea will satisfy throughout the heat of
summer.
A
more calming look can be created with softer oranges accented with blue and
chocolate. Plant a mass of orange daylilies, back the planting with tall
blue switch grass (Panicum
virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’),
and edge in front of the daylilies with chocolate colored heucheras.
Center a blue container in the dayliles and plant it with chocolate cosmos
surrounded by a ruffly orange heuchera. All of these yummy heucheras seem to be named for
foods—’Creme Brulee’ and ‘Marmalade’ and ‘Peach Flambe’—and look as delicious
as they sound. Site this planting near a birch with peeling orange bark
and a chocolate Carex, ‘Cappuccino’ or ‘Milk Chocolate’, at
its feet.
Finally, add a chaise
lounge with many pillows and treat yourself to chocolate mousse served in a
hollowed-out orange.
NWGN
More
Plants for the Orange Garden
Heuchera ‘Amber Waves’
Old-fashioned
annuals: zinnia, calendula and Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) California poppy and
nasturtiums
Kniphofia
species and cultivars
Euphorbia
griffithii ‘Fireglow’
Dahlias and
cannas with orange flowers. Cultivars with bronze or purple leaves, such as Dahlia ‘David Howard’ or Canna
‘Tropicanna’ offer extra punch.
