Let's see your favorite garden harmonies

Because aucuba does so well in dry shady conditions, I have it in several places in my garden. Here the variegated 'Gold Dust' is next to a white flowering hellebore:

Lysimachia ciliata 'Rubrum' never got a chance to become invasive in our dry summers. Here it keeps its head above Oxalis siliquosa 'Copper Sunset'.

Bearded iris and dwarf Rhaphiolepsis (Indian hawthorn)

I've posted this before, from 2006. About once a year, my Joseph's Coat climber throws out a spray of multicolored blooms that ranges from cream to true purple. Seems to depend on how much the temps fluctuate, and is not a sport. It occurs on different branches, very erratically.

Limonium and variegated euonymus

Purple lavendar stoechas and orange CA poppies.

Such gorgeous photos and combinations, jkom! Wonderful, wonderful. That Joseph's Coat is too beautiful - all those colors on one rose is outstanding.

Wow! That Joseph's Coat is amazing. I also love the walnut tree shot. It looks like a slice of paradise.

Louise, Thank you. I picked the picture for the website, and my developer did some creative things with it, and I think it's really nice.

I love your pictures. You at least do have a little yellow in there. I think I defintiely need more. I just can't do orange. Your ants eye view is great.

jkom51, great pictures. It's always interesting to see plants I don't know, or plants I always grow as an annual growing so large. Like brunnera, irises, and then....a palm? You sure wouldn't see that here.

And Pirl, while it's true that sometimes the best combos just come together, sometimes they are the result of a lot of planning and moving plants around, and as I said having a good eye.

Polly, I know I asked this before, but if I ask again, I just might remember this time. Is your website open to the public yet?

Only the front page is up, Louise. I'm trying to input all the irises into it, and it's a job. I thought simply being good at growing irises would be enough.

If you want to see the front page it's

www.siberianirisgardens.com

I think that's OK to say as you can't get any further than the front page at this time.

Here's 'Savannah's Edge' daylily with 'Jolly Bee' geranium (thanks, Polly).

Thanks Polly, I have it bookmarked so I won't have to ask (again).

Oooh, that's nice Pirl.

Thanks Louise.

Pirl, I love that picture more everytime i see it. Since I already have the geranium, I might copy you. The daylily really bings out the pink in the geranium, that you don't even realize is there.

Now that was a "Pam" moment. For those who don't know of Pamela Harper and her book Color Echoes, it's well worth buying especially since there are times it can be purchased for $1.99 plus shipping since it isn't new.

Anyhow, when Pam gets a plant she walks through the garden with it to find the ideal spot so that's what I did.

Ah, that was the Pam you were referring to. I thought it might have been a DL hybridizer. I did get two of her books through the link provided on the iris thread. Thanks, I love them both.

Which ones did you get? I love Time Tested Plants. Designing With Perennials is also great, along with of course....Color Echoes.

Oh, this can become a favorite thread! I love seeing all these garden harmonies here and am getting so many ideas, that's dangerous! ^_^
jkom51, you and I have the same tastes, I can see so many of the plants you have are also ones I grow but there are a few other things I now see that I want to add.

Since I love orange, I have several combos that thrill me. Sometimes they are happy accidents but if a plan I envision pans out, I fell pretty swell about them. LOL

This is an orange mimulus and an unknown aster

Color Echoes and Time Tested. Maybe I should invest in the design book too, as my designing abilities need some help. A lot of help. It's also nice that her zone is similar to mine. I appreciate all bonuses.

Pirl, Polly, Venu, and JKom those are fantastic shots and a real heartwarmer. We are getting a snow storm tomorrow so it feels good to see green.
Polly, I love the pics with the grand kids. Are those magnolia trees?

Louise, if you don't mind uses you can get it at Abes Books.

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=designing+with+perennials&x=0&y=0

If you can get a hardcover do it, this one seemed to fall apart easily, as did Time Tested. I had purchased them both in the soft cover, and the binding was not the best on them, so I purchased the hardcover, and it was much better.

A lot of my combos are foliage. I love lime greens with dark foliage.

and leaf textures.

Oh man, I may need those books!

Hi Cyndie, welcome over here. Yes, magnolias.

We're in for the snow too, they're predicting about a foot, so it is really nice to see these pics.

Any good combo pictures you can post Cyndie?

Love those planters, Sue.

I think the books are well worth getting. And especially if you don't mind used, you can get them for less than 5.00. And like Pirl told me, it's interesting to see what other people have underlined, or marked.

I will definitely look into them.

This was my front yard last April.
Helps to take lots of pictures so I can see what works, what doesn't so I know what plant I may want to add more of into the garden.

The reddish hue in the Sempervivum in the foreground look nice with the red pot I think.

Lovely, Sue, again I see lots of plants I don't have a clue what they are.

I think a hotter garden, such as Calif. calls for some brighter colors. In the cool NE where I live, I like the looks of the cooler colors.

Here's part of what my overall garden looks like. Not to get away from combos.

It would be nice if Pirl posted a couple of overall pictures of her garden too. It shows how all the combos come together. And I know she has some beautiful shots.

Beautiful garden Calif_Sue. Love the colors.
I have a fairly new garden so I am still planting combos. I have a couple of pics from 2 years ago. My camera died last year.
I have since made the beds larger and changed the brick pattern.

Oh, do I love that iris, Cyndie!

last pic from side yard. I have since enlarged and made the edging flow a little better.

Mmmm, just gorgeous Polly! Wish I had the space, I am a plant crammer with a large pot & eclectic plant collection. I am really going to try hard to work on my combos this year!

8/2006 pots under an orange tree, looks different every year.

Don't know if this qualifies as a color harmony, but this was done before I got into that !

Very nice and colorful as well as neat, Cyndie. I love love love big garden curves! Your rocks are great and they make a wonderful break in color if needed.

Polly - your garden looks so lush!

Sue - the sempervivums do go so well with your beautiful pot. Great match. I love the power of orange in your garden. Once upon a time I wouldn't have orange but now we get along fine. So we both like using lime green with dark foliage!

I'm a crammer, too, Sue. I love the effect. Coleus get more wonderful with each passing year and though I ordered a lot more for this year I had taken a lot of cuttings last year in my quest to plant out 1,000 of them, in with the daylilies, this year. So far, so good.

Mike - that is so stunning. I'd love to be sitting there as you toil and sweat.

Looks great Cyndie, Did you work the garden around the boulders or bring them in? I love that look but gardening in rocky terrain is back breaking.

Those California gardens are tantalizing. I like your pot Sue. Looks great with the sempervivums.

JD, you have glorious harmony going on. It's like a full fledged symphony!

This terra cotta pot goes nicely with the trumpets of the daffodils. I leave it there to warn me not to dig into the daffodils when I plant one of the big dahlias there each June.

Venu, The rocks were here long before me. ;) We built a house here and had the contractor move them to the side for accent. I have other arrangements that I haven't done things with yet.
There are many more rocks beneath the surface in that area, which is why it is dry. Our lot is old forest sloping down to the lake. Not the best soil, so I have been working on building it up. It is beautiful woods, so I am trying to put things in without damaging the original landscape. And I try not to plant things that look really out of place with the environment.