Gardening With Brenda

By Brenda Powell

“The Pantone color of the year is Classic Blue, just a little darker than the color of your door,” my aunt said to me when she visited me in December. I’ve been following Pantone and its choices for over 10 years. Pantone’s color choices influence retail sales, interior design and marketing. This year I checked out Pantone’s color choices before they selected the color of the year, so I was honestly surprised when my aunt mentioned their top pick. The words Pantone used in describing Classic Blue: calm, dependable, sense of peace, tranquility, refuge. Boring, safe? I don’t think so. I love blue.

Blue is a cool color and in the landscape, cool colors make small spaces appear larger. They sparkle in the shade. Blue reminds us of the sky and is a perfect choice for a meditation garden. Blue is especially good at attracting bees. Also, blue is the most uncommon color in the plant world. There are plants that can add blue to your landscape either in flowers or foliage. Another way to incorporate the color is to choose blue glazed pottery, paint furniture or a wall in the garden, or use blue glass. Following is a list of plants to consider to add the cool, tranquil color blue to your landscape. (See Key).

For the sun: Salvia: A or P. Height varies. My faves are ‘May Night’ P and ‘Black & Blue’ A. DR. DT. Borage: Annual but reseeds. 2’ tall. Great pollinator attractor. Edible. Nepeta (Catmint): P. Many varieties from 1-3’ tall. DR. DT. Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Leadwort). P. 9-12” tall. Fall blooms and red fall foliage. Caryopteris (Bluebeard): D. 3-4’ tall. Many varieties. DT. Blue needled conifers: Boulevard Cypress, Feeling Blue Deodar Cedar, Chamaecyparis ‘Blue Feathers’, Blue Spruce (dwarf to large), and Blue Star Juniper. Most DR & DT. Delphinium: P. Many varieties from 2-7’. Needs good drainage and a humus soil. DR. Gentian ‘Holzmann’: P. 1-3” tall. Alpine plant that likes well-drained soil. Evovulus ‘Blue My Mind’: A. 6-12” tall. Prolific flowers, trailing habit, silver foliage. Amsonia hubricthii (Blue Star): P. 3’ tall. Powder blue flowers and feathery foliage. Ceanothus (California Lilac): E. 5-12’ tall. Small leaves, spring blooms. DT. Siberian Iris ‘Bennerup Blue’: P. 3-4’ tall. Blade-like foliage. Striking blooms. DR.

For the shade:

Brunnera (Siberian Blugloss): P. 12-15” tall. Forget-me-not like flowers over leaves with silver variegation. Several varieties with different degrees of variegation. DR.

Dark blue star creeper: P. Matforming ground cover. Better behaved than the standard type. County Park is a nice selection. Will tolerate wetter soils. Hosta seiboldiana ‘Elegans’: P. Frosty blue, large , heart-shaped leaves. Camassia esculenta (Quamash): A bulb native to Oregon that grows in wetter areas. DT.

Key (A) Annual: Grows one season then dies or isn’t hardy. Often reseeds. (P) Perennial: Lives from year to year but may die to ground over wint er. (D) Deciduous: woody shrub that loses its leaves in winter. (E) Evergreen: keeps leaves or needles all year. (DR): usually deer resistant. (DT): drought tolerant.

Brenda

Brenda Powell is a fourth generation owner of Garland Nursery in Corvallis.

Follow her writing at garlandnursery.wordpress.com