Color in the garden serves many purposes and is equally important in every season. Color provides interest, attracts wildlife of all sizes and affect human moods. Touch and smell further enhances the gardens purpose. Garden areas help blend building and harsh cement and concrete structures into the environment around us. 

The use of color can be harmonious and well planned out or wild with an artistic flare that adds excitement to gardens and parks. 

Spring seems to be a time of fresh color. Excitement of a new season and year are in the colors or spring flowers and early summer flowers. Pastels, whites, pinks and yellows are popular at this time of year. Natural planting and wild flowers seem to echo these colors too. 

Summer brings on the hot colors and bold garden looks. By mixing annual and perennial flowers you can keep a constant flow of new and exciting colors in your plantings.  Be bold and try planting a garden in one or two colors or with color contrasts. Gardening is truly an art and experimenting just adds to the fun. 

Garden colors are not limited to just flowers. Vegetables add great color and texture to gardens.Some of the most successful gardens combine both flowers and vegetables, They are successful for the color, interesting combinations and its a great form of combination gardening that promotes natural pest control.

Garden Grown Fall Decorations – Theme Gardens

 Fall offers a wonderful array of colors, from the fall browns, red and oranges; to the spots of vibrant colors which always reminds me of those rays of sunlight that catch fall colors and make them glow. Fall foliage and garden crops make great arrangements for outdoors as out natural outdoor growth continues to decline. To me it’s a beautiful time of year. You appreciate the lingering plants and color when they become more rare. 

You can pick some of your dried flowers such as the bi-annual Money Plant and Jack-O-Lantern or cut corn stalks and tie with string and ribbon. Place a few ornamental gourds and a few edible squash by the stalks and you have a festive decoration. I like putting Gourds, squash and ornamental corn in a wheel barrel or bushel basket turned over on its side and places the squash like they are spilling out.  

If you have grown any vines this year set up one of your arrangements by the vines and place lights in the vines that will shine at night on the arrangements. This is particularly interesting for the Halloween season and using pumpkins. The scene has a totally spooky mysterious look. 

For those of you who grow mums the hardy flowers will add color to porches and yard arrangements. You can leave them in the ground and mulch well around them and over winter them or pot them up and move them into a cool garage or barn. Water lightly and mulch. In the early spring you can bring them back out and they will slowly come to life.  

In my cooler Zone 5 climate I either place them in a cold frame for protection from the cold nights or place them on the south side of the house along the wall of the house. It protects them from the cold. One other thing that will help with your mum plants. When you notice they are beginning to grow again you can dig into the soil where the growth is and remove the new growth and some of the roots. This is a great way to get many more plants from one plant.  

Winter Gardens

 Many people consider winter a time of no gardens. Actually some of the prettiest gardens are natural. Trees and branches have varied colors and shrubs can have beautiful twigs. The Yellow and Red Twig Willow are wonderful examples of this.

Berries left on trees and shrubs add interest to the scenery. Milder climates have perennials that will continue to change color and have new growth. Even the cooler northern climates have a few perennials and wild plants that show color and brighten the environment in the colder months.  

By planning you can add color in your garden and yard with trees and shrubs. Your garden art will also leave lingering color and interest.