Designing With the Ultimate Color Contrast

Balance the darkest of the dark with the lightest of the light to help an average bed jump to life

A garden based oncolor contrasts is always interesting . It does n’t matter what season it is , how mature the plant are , or even what ’s in bloom — pair two plant life that are opposites on the color wheel and excitement ensues . Once I full grasped this concept , I marvel what would happen if I designed a space using the ultimate in color contrasts : black and white . My answer came quickly : Magic . I quickly found that using this striking color combination helped deform a boring blank into an center - catch area .

combine such extreme opposites can be tricky — you ca n’t just throw away a crew of dark and white plants together and expect it to be interesting . My approach involved selecting plants that grab my care with their white flowers or pale leaf . Then I equilibrate those searing hue with dark - leaved plant , which also added profoundness and a signified of mystery . Finally , I gave livid - and - green - variegated flora a particular role , which result in the most stunning combinations I could have ever imagined .

White Always Draws the Eye

No colouring burns brighter in the garden than white . It is impossible to discount . The best way to instill pure white into the garden is with white - flower plants . I was measured to pick out only consistent , long - blooming perennials and shrub , like lilies ( Liliumspp . and cvs . , USDA Hardiness Zones 3–8 ) , irises ( Irisspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , and bush roses ( Rosaspp . and cvs . , Zones 2–11 ) . An added bonus with these special choice is that , withineach genus , there are numerous shade of blank . Just fancy walking into a key store and seeing the incredible numeral of clean paint micro chip — in the plant realm , it is much the same . Selecting different shades of white is important because the varied shade provide depth while still drawing the eye ’s attention .

Even the best long - flower plants finally stop flowering , unluckily , and relying on only livid heyday to ply the pa of ignitor in this garden would be too one - dimensional — and it would have greatly confine my plant options . So to get more light coloring into the garden , I broadened my pallette to include plant life with pale foliage . I chose shrubs with virtually all - white foliage , like ‘ Snow Fairy ’ puritanical - mist shrub ( Caryopteris divaricata‘Snow Fairy ’ , Zones 5–9 ) ; atomic number 47 - leaved plants , like cardoon ( Cynara cardunculus , Zones 7–10 ) ; and even perennials with light chartreuse foliage , like ‘ Sum and Substance ’ hosta ( Hosta‘Sum and Substance ’ , Zones 3–9 ) . Pale - colored foliage is an incredible substitute for white because it look like blank , specially when paired next to something dark .

Black Balances out Searing Hues

Although bloodless garners a lot of attention , it can easily look blown out . intend about how garish a garden of thoroughgoing Andrew D. White is in broad daylight ; without dark glasses , it could much sting your retina . To avoid this , you need to equilibrise vivacious white with pitch blackness . lamentably , there are not many reliable black plants . Most fall into the imperial or burgundy family , but do n’t rein them out : They actually appear disgraceful when planted next to bloodless . And think that shrubs with smutty berry and perennial with fatal stems give you even more options to choose from . All of these blackish plants provide a rankness and dark timbre that provides a perfect balance to white selections , and they also provide a sense of enigma .

Finding tumid plant with dark foliation was a little difficult . I was able-bodied to get plenty of little and medium - size plants to use , but for the back of the border , I was stumped . process off my experience with white plants , I decided to experiment and tried using glowering green as a substitute for blackness . I quick discover that conifer volunteer me endless option of dark green — a chromaticity that ply that essential balance to white . conifer also lend a texture that perennials and bush simply do n’t have . For the same reasons , broad - leaved evergreens , such as rhododendrons ( Rhododendronspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–9 ) , are outstanding dark plant , too .

Once you learn how to push the limits of color, your garden will never be boring again.

White-and-Green Variegation Bridges the Gap

What about variegated plant ? Where do they fit in ? bleak - and - white combinations , although hitting , would probably stick out curiously if it were n’t for whitened - and - green - variegated plant . These special plants link up their black and white-hot first cousin because they are both light-colored and dark hue . Just because white - and - green - variegate plants are used as connectors , you should n’t think of them only as the plus sign in the black - and - ashen equation . Because of their dual hue , they effortlessly accentuate the disconsolate and light plant around them but at the same time do to give off their own independent luminescence . Their numbers are many compared to all - black or all - clean plants , so you ’ll never have a difficult fourth dimension finding industrial plant selection .

Every nurseryman strain for a garden that is always interesting . My secret to accomplish that finish was creating striking black - and - bloodless colouring combination — the ultimate in contrast . Regardless of what is flower , this pairing always shimmers . And I warrant that , once you learn how to push the limits of coloring material , your garden will never be tedious again.•

Your Camera can Help you Find the Perfect Balance

Finding the everlasting balance of black and clean in the garden can be taxing . Sometimes an area can seem too bright or too sinister , but it ’s gruelling to put a finger’s breadth on what to add or take away to rectify the situation . I suggest using your camera to take photograph of the garden . When spell them into a photo program on your electronic computer , pick out the “ electronegative effect ” editing pecker . This option change your figure to black and ashen but reverse the people of colour — turn all the white areas calamitous and vice versa . By hyperexaggerating the physical composition , it becomes easy to tell what ’s miss to poise things out .

Too Light

The large concentration of grim blotches ( right ) suggests that this area is too white and need some inglorious plants added to the commixture to equilibrise thing out .

Too Dark

A sea of light colorize ( right hand ) indicates that this segment of the garden could practice more snowy , especially because the only affair register as light in color are the edges of the hosta .

Just Right

A 50/50 balance between colored and wakeful ( right ) is the idealistic proportion for a successful black - and - white combination .

Barbara Weirich gardens extensively in the challenging climate of Benton Harbor , Michigan .

Photos : Danielle Sherry

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Black and white plants offer the highest level of contrast.Here, the pairing of panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculatacv., Zones 3–8) and black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus‘Nigrescens’, Zones 6–11) makes a stunning combination.

White blooms need dark foliage.Although beautiful on their own, the glowing blossoms of ‘Frosty Morn’ sedum (Sedum‘Frosty Morn’, Zones 3–9) need to be tempered with those of the dark-hued barberry (Berberiscv., Zones 3–9) and ‘Redbor’ kale (Brassicaoleracea ‘Redbor’, annual).

Chartreuse can be used in place of white. Light-colored foliage, like the leaves of this ‘Sum and Substance’ hosta, adds brightness to the garden without burning too brightly.

Having trouble finding enough black?There’s a limited number of large, dark-hued plants, like ‘Brunette’ baneberry (Actaea simplex‘Brunette’, Zones 4–8), so use conifers with deep green needles, like Japanese umbrella pine (Sciadopitys verticillata, Zones 5–9), to give the back of the garden some balance.

Hardscaping should some contrast, too.Recycled brick molds (used in manufacturing) were filled with black- and rustcolored pebbles—two colors that perfectly echo the hues of a nearby dark-leaved plant, ‘Black Scallop’ ajuga (Ajuga reptans‘Black Scallop’, Zones 3–9).

Variegated plants complete the black-and-white equation.Variegated brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla‘Variegata’, Zones 3–7) bridges the gap between the dark-leaved ajuga and the frothy white flowers of Diamond Frost® euphorbia (Euphorbia‘Inneuphdia’, Zones 10–11).