pink and purple !?

Hi - I've decided that the color scheme for our front yard should be pinks and purples. We have sort of multi tan brick with white fancy wrought iron trim. I took a look and realized I was almost there already with what was here and what I had already planted last year...

Oregon Skies iris, a plum iris, pink irises and one amazing purple with blue throat... cheddar pink dianthus and victoria blue salvia. Russian sage, pink Gaura, Pink/purple pulmonaria officionalis (Lungwort), and Purple iris on the side of the house... in the front planter are already purple alliums that grow 5 feet high!

I am getting hanging baskets of the bright pink wave petunias (love these!) ... and hanging bags of purple wave petunias.

But I have a LOT of room for flowers and plan to add some raised beds somewhere along the line. Just getting started creating a "look" for our place. Our soil is acidic from long-standing tall pines all around.

I need your suggestions for hardy perennials, herbs and shrubs - no brainer things... I am a disabled gardener who needs to have things I can personally maintain.

TIA,
Janie

Erysimum,Bowles Mauve, it blooms and blooms.

Janiejoy,your colors are my colors too. If you could manage a clematis, they come in great lavender and purples. Donna

Janie my favorite shrub is hardy Hibiscus. Here it blooms in August and the flowers are wonderful. It's very easy to care for.

Janiejoy,,have you thought of perennial geraniums? They are wonderful plants that require very little maintenance and are in your color scheme. These are not the pelargoniums everyone buys in the spring, and stores in their basements for winter. Go to the Geraniaceae Forum and check them out... They are wonderful.

Columbine comes in pinks and purples

There are lovely Verbena in your colors and Fuscias and pelargoniuns and....dianthus, carnations, roses and mini roses, clematis, iris...the posibilities are staggering in proportions!

I just harvested some really pretty light purple and light pink columbine seeds you can have for an sase if you like. They are mixed now though, sorry.

Candytuft are so easy and self sow on their own.

Oooh such good ideas.

kell, is the candytuft also called scabiosa? Or pin cushion plant?


tiG, I'd love to send you an sase for your columbine seeds! Please email me your address and I'll get it to you as soon as possible!

Zanymuse, hope you are enjoying your patio gardening... would carnations be perennial in zone 5b?

Moss Rose, I didn't know anything about perennial geraniums! going over there in a min. to check them out!

elsie, I've never tried hibiscus. sounds intriguing!

Wallflowers, Lenjo? never even saw those before! I like that it blooms and blooms... wonder if it would do as well in my northern Ohio zone ??

rutholive, what kind of soil does a clematis need? I am picturing a trellis along the side of the house with a beautiful clematis growing up it... or maybe climbing roses???

Thanks you all for your great ideas. I had almost forgotten my favorite flowers - cosmos! I still have some seed left from my old house - hopefully it will be viable, if not, I'll go and get some. They are so fun, and huge!

Thanks for all your input.!

Love
Janie

Janie, you might also mix in some very dark blue flowers (Delphiniums or larkspurs, pansies, salvias, etc.) as well as some silvery-foliage plants (dusty miller is a good one, and comes in many varieties, from coarsely-textured to almost fern-like. Helichrysum (Licorice Plant and the cultivar 'Icicles') can provide interesting form and foliage, too.

By interspersing these other colors throughout the bed does two things:

1) Adds depth, and makes the other plants stand out even more; (Monet used nearly-black flowers to achieve this effect); and

2) Prevents awkward juxtapositions (which happens when two flowers appear "pink" until you place them next to each other and discover one is really coral-colored, while the other is purple-hued.)

Great idea Terry! Hadn't thought of that.
I'm working on a set up I can plug into my LandDesigner3D 8.0 program so I can see how things will look. It's all dreams right now since I can't get out there yet and we're working on getting a well drilled for irrigation purposes.

But I figure if I start now, by the time it's time to start making the retaining walls and planting things, I'll have done all the planning and just be able to dig in!

I'm so excited to hear such different ideas. I need to study Monet's gardens and see what he did - his work is some of the most beautiful artwork in all of history, at least to me!

Love y'all!
Janie

Hi Janie........... no it is not, here is a link on candytuft
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/wildseed/22/22.4.html

here is scabiosa which may be calle dpin cuchion
http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/perennials/perennial_scabiosa.html

and pin cushion
http://plantsdatabase.com/go/1342/

sounds like you are going to have such fun!