Sunday, September 22, 2013

Peach-Colored Blooms


Autumn arrived a few minutes ago and soon the garden will be wearing its warmest colors: rich, dark reds, tawny rust, earth browns, and radiant burnt orange from the hot part of the color wheel. But before the season moves on, I would like to highlight the peach-colored blooms in my garden. The definition is 'a pinkish-yellow color like that of a peach.' I once preferred strong, bright colors, but as I get older my appreciation of color subtleties changes, so peaches and pinks have come into favor. Maybe this is because dreamy, soft, gentle colors are the very essence of the traditional cottage garden with its rose-covered arbors and lavender-lined paths. In any event, I look at my peachy blooms with love these days. Of course, peaches and pastels should be mixed with warmer tones to avoid a cloying overpowering effect and to achieve true harmony. I believe peach flowers can enrich adjacent deep blues, golden yellows, and deep cerise pinks. In garden design we teach that red is one richly saturated color that doesn't benefit from pink, unless the pink has a peachy cast with tints of yellow. Peach makes red flowers pop.

I love peach roses next to purple clematis on a white picket fence ...

Rosa 'Compassion' with clematis 'Tie Dye'

Rosa 'Compassion'

The rose in the lead picture is David Austin 'Lichfield Angel,' a creamy-white bloom with a hint of peach. In my garden it is flanked by a pink Knockout rose on one side and a yellow Knockout on the other. They complement each other beautifully.

One of the first flowers of spring to appear in my shade garden is the 'Ivory Prince' hellebore with its ivory petals tinged with peach ...

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince'

In the kitchen garden, the first blueberry to bloom has peach-colored flowers ...

Blueberry Vaccinium

I have two peachy daylilies, 'Bo Peep' and 'Chorus Line' ...

Daylily Hemerocallis 'Bo Peep'

Daylily Hemerocallis 'Chorus Line'

Monarch butterflies love milkweed. I have 3 or 4 different varieties. This is my favorite ...

Milkweed Asclepias syriaca
 
Begonia, fuschia, and ivy in the Stone Garden

I employ the patch approach to planting for color effect; I plant in drifts that run into the next, creating a visual feast of color. I don't have a patch of peach in my garden, however, but this year my Stone Garden (container garden) is largely planted with peach begonia and fuschia. The fuschia proved to be a hummingbird magnet!

Begonia sp.

Fuschia Gartenmeister Bonstedt

And finally, a peach-colored zinnia, one of many I grew from seed ...
 
 Zinnia  'Cut and Come Again'


 The color peach is symbolic of sincerity and gratitude. It may not be the first choice of many gardeners, but I am very partial to it these days. So I have some new, peach plants on my wish list for next year: 'Apricot Delight' yarrow, 'Just Peachy' agastache, and 'Coral Reef' Echinacea. Each would look well planted in drifts. 

What is your favorite flower color?

One of Nature's ironies
 is that a garden's warmest colors blossom
as the skies turn grey and cold.
Author Unknown 

As we welcome autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, I wish you happy fall gardening!
Pamela x 



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16 comments:

  1. I love all your peach blooms Pam and the Milkweed Asclepias syriaca is lovely. You have presented each beautifully with wonderfully written words and it has been such an admirable walk through your garden on this first day of fall.

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  2. Love your peach roses, Pam. I really like your urn and how you planted it.

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  3. I really like the clematis with the rose. My favorite combination! I have been bringing more red into my front garden since we had our door painted red a couple of years ago. My favorite peach color is from my 'Fairy Tale Pink' Day Lily which looks more peach or apricot than pink. Happy Fall!

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  4. Oh, my, I do love your peach-colored blossoms! I see that you and I have the 'Litchfield Angel' rose in common. It is a lovely thing, isn't it? I have several David Austin roses and I love them all.

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  5. Some gorgeous plants there, all different shades of the same colour, I notice. I love the zinnia, such lovely flowers. I've seen a nasturtium on a couple of blogs named Peach Melba which I took a fancy to.

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  6. I too like the peach hues and also warmly welcome Autumn. I think I favor this time of year although it is very brief here. All colors in the garden are wonderful and I prefer the change from pastels of spring to the loud reds and yellows of summer, to the demure blues and rusts of fall.

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  7. Hi Pam!I think this color is very peaceful and calm. I like it! I like the blue in the garden, bright rose, purple. There are very few yellows and oranges in my garden. You have a great autumn!

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  8. What fun to focus on a color like peach, which I also like. My favorite is probably orange and coral-orange as in westerland roses, Little Princess tulips, the winter color of sedum. Poppies come Ina nice peach color.

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  9. Your peach blooms are wonderful and they combine so nicely with blue, which is my favourite colour. Fuchsia Gartenmeister Bonstedt, remembered me to a long time ago, the time we had a large collection of Fuchsias. All the flowers are nice but Daylily 'Bo Peep'is a hightlight for me.

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  10. Pam I definitely do not have enough peach in my garden...I love that zinnia and rose. I will have to consider more peach for sure...I love purple!

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  11. If I were in your garden, I'd have swathes of that milkweed. Glorious complex colours and textures.

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  12. Spectacular day lilies. I would quite happily replace all the pinks in my garden with peach.

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  13. Blotanical says - today is your happy birthday. Wish you a lovely day in your garden.

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  14. Happy Fall to you Pam! Everything is looking peachy there! Sorry could'nt resist that...

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  15. This is my all-time favorite color for anything especially flowers. Beautiful garden you have!

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