[June 2002 - Oriental poppies, Rosa mutabilis, Carex buchananii, Astrantia 'Hadspen Blood']

Anyone for pink in the red border?

To colour theme or not to colour theme? There has been a lot written over the years about colour themed borders. I haven't studied the theories in any great detail but something must rub-off!.

Gertrude Jekyll in the Edwardian period encapsulated the thinking on tonal plantings which shaded down the length of a border from one colour to another through elements of the colour spectrum.

The White Garden at Sissinghurst started by Vita Sackville-West and carried on and developed by Pamela Schwerdt and Sybille Kreutzberger has inspired thousands of gardeners to go home and try doing it for themselves. The cool, white themed border was one of the garden must-haves of the late 1980's and 90's.

"Provided one does not run the idea to death, and provided one has enough room, it is interesting to make a one-colour garden. It is something more than merely interesting. It is great fun and endlessly amusing as an experiment, capable of perennial improvement, as you take away the things that don't fit in, or that don't satisfy you, and replace them by something you like better." Vita Sackville-West writing about The White Garden.

More recently Nori and Sandra Pope at Hadspen House in Somerset* have developed and written about their approach to colour themeing and the makings of their famous 'red' border. The red/plum/orange borders [to be more correct] at Hadspen are contained by a high wall and bordered by the kitchen garden. It's curved sweep leads the eye through careful but exuberant colour gradations. Plants used include roses, clematis, dahlias, marigolds and poppies. It is essentially a 'late border' taking us through the harsh light of August into the low golden light of early Autumn. I have not read their book on the subject, my comments are based on 'field observation'. [*As of 2006 the Pope's garden is I understand no longer there, it is being extensively remodeled by the owner]

So why think in colour themes? I think Vita has it pretty much right, additionally it sets a challenge to work by rules [of your own making] - to hunt down and then to arrange the plants to be 'pleasing' [this doesn't necessarily mean harmonious!] and to ensure some interest all through the year [in my case].

The 'red bed' in the village garden was my second attempt at a red themed bed, and was planted primarily as a late border, although interest needed to be successional from spring onwards.

My first attempt at a red bed was over 10 years ago and more purist in its approach than the current work in progress. It was a small south facing bed perhaps 4 feet at it's widest and 10 feet long, shaded for some of the day. I planted a deep purple form of Cotinus coggygria [smoke bush] as the main backdrop for the bed. I grew Rosa Souvenir du Dr Jamain for its richly scented deep red-purple flowers and as another key shrub [Vita Sackville-West writes about re-discovering this rose - circularities!]. Helianthemums in some lovely tangy oranges and reds were planted at the front of the border including Ben More and Fireball. I also discovered that adding blue was a great zinger - the hardy plumbago, Ceratostigma with reddened foliage and late blue flowers fitted the bill well, and I am sure in the mix I had the two staples, Chocolate Cosmos and Dahlia Bishop of Landaff.

With the current 'in progress' red bed, I set out with the best intentions, the owner of the garden was taken with the Hadspen border, and I thought it would be an interesting discipline to work on the gradations to encompass yellow through oranges, scarlets, purple-red to red-black. The border is west facing and varies between 5 feet at it's widest to no more than 2 feet across, it is 20 feet long and curved. The soil is cruel, with a high clay component, it dries hard and cracks although the surface is workable when wet, [lots of peat-free compost has been added as a mulch this year]. The bed is also fairly exposed to the SW winds that hit this garden on a hill.

Being a less than meticulous planner and an avid plant buyer, the careful gradation idea soon fell apart! Anxious to create colour in the first year and fill newly created space to combat the weeds, plants started going in out of sequence. And with budget being an issue some end of summer bargain waifs and strays also had to be found a home.

So 'red bed' plan B kicked in, based around the Beth Chatto idea of ribbons of colour and also using repetitions of certain plants [The border at Montacute is a good example of repetitions, and another good late summer border]. By the end of 2001 the red border was full and the colour carried through until the first frosts.

In May 2002 the border was expanded and more plant additions and moves were made to create more rhythm. It also has to be said that the red bed does not strictly adhere to its theme. There are blues, purples, bright yellows and an acid green... oh and pink! I bought mixed oriental poppy seed from Chilterns seeds in 2001, I think I misread the description and assumed they would all be reds. Of the 3 plants that made it through the annihilation by slugs and snails, the first flowered in 2002, a very bright salmon pink. After the initial shock, it actually cross tones well with the fading flowers of Rosa Mutabilis and the glorious stems of Cornus Midwinter Fire. By the time real clashes might occur it will have finished flowering [oriental poppies are perennial but die down in the summer months].

Another association that worked well was a scarlet flowered hybrid tea rose which has very dark red foliage partnered with a very purple sage, a tangy orange helianthemum and Carex buchananii, the tones are of browns, tawny orange and purples with a slash of scarlet from the rose. At the end of 2002 I also enjoyed the subtle pinky fruits of Malus John Downie matched in part by the pinky orange closed mouth bells of Crocosmia Culzean Peach.

So what's in the 'red bed' ?

Key shrubs: Rosa Mutabilis, Rosa Souvenir du Dr Jamain [I know he's in full sun and his petals will scorch in summer!], Rosa Geranium two unknown hybrid teas with red to tawny foliage, Spiraea Firelight, Paeonia delavayi or lutea [an unflowered seedling from two tree paeonies I grew from seed years ago - finally flowered in 2006, yellow!], Cornus sanguinea Midwinter Fire, Buddleja White Tor [has a bluey tone to the purple flower and furrier leaves giving a whiter effect], Malus John Downie [ruddy crab apples], Physocarpus opulifolius Diablo [the leaves become an intense rich purple-black] and Phygelius capensis.

Grasses: Carex buchananii, Carex testacea, Stipa arundinacea, Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Herbstzauber' [now been removed as it fails to produce its fluffy tails before being cut by frost - 2003], Miscanthus sinensis Kleine Silberspinne now joined by Ferner Osten larger growing with red tints [I haven't found either particularly happy in the hot dry exposed soil]. The Carex buchananii forms an evergreen thread through the bed [from self-sown seedlings, they act as free weed suppressers] . The Carex also provide movement in the breeze which adds interest.

Key plants: Potentilla Monsieur Rouillard and Gibson's Scarlet, Helianthemum Henfield Brilliant, Supreme, Bunbury and an unknown tawny orange [Copperknob or a Ben?]. Gaillardia Goblin and Burgundy seedlings, Ophiopogon planiscarpus Nigrescens ['black grass', actually in the lily family], Scabiosa atropurpurea, Helenium's various [some did not make it through the winter, I suspect because they went in late and didn't form enough bottom growth to get through the hard clay earlier this year before the slugs got to them]. Crocosmia's, Solfaterre, James Coey, Emily McKenzie, Severn Sunrise and Culzean Peach for the later colour [Star of the East seems to be a little unhappy they all decreased over time again not enough moisture]. Hollyhock - Black, Bronze Fennel, Hawkweed, Cosmos atrosanguineus [Chocolate Cosmos], Achillea Marmalade, Fanal, Faust, Christl, Feuerland and Walther Funcke [also sulked and declined I think these Achillea like a looser soil and space] and Astrantia Hadspen Blood [later moved to semi shaded conditions].

Annuals, bulbs and tubers [slugs permitting]: Snapdragon Black Prince, Nasturtium Empress of India, Eschscholzia californica Inferno, Ratibida [Red Mexican Hat], [Opium poppy 'Seriously Scarlet has not made it - SLUGS]. Linaria reticulata, Dahlias including Summer Night, Bloodstone and Black Spider. Tulips Queen of the Night and Orange Emperor [ in year 3 they have 'split' and have stopped flowering, time to renew them].

[There is a lot of talk at the moment about annuals and how easy they are to grow - some are and some aren't! In 2002 cold damp conditions in late March combined with other forces meant that even the Night Scented Stock seedlings took a hammering, primarily from slugs and snails because of the wetter weather]. In 2003 the temperature fluctuations from very warm to frost confused a number of seedlings.

Other red/purple shrub ideas: include, Cotinus coggygria [various good purple forms], Berberis atropurpurea, Dark leaved Elder e.g Black Beauty, Corylus avellana Purpurea [purple hazel], Copper Beech if used as a hedging backdrop and Rosa Rubrifolia for its foliage. There are many other zingy or sumptuous red roses to choose from preferably the more relaxed growers which fit better into a border than many Hybrid T's, and David Austin types such as the deep purple-red The Prince. On acid soils the young scarlet growth of Pieris could be used to good effect.

Other plants could include Zauschneria californica, Penstemons both species and hybrid for later colour, Lychnis chalcedonica, Sunflower e.g. Velvet Queen, Lobelia's tupa, laxiflora and cardinalis [depending on soil], Mitraria coccinea, Desfontainia spinosa, Colquhounia coccinea, Leontis, Agastache Firebird, Salvias, Watsonia, Tulipa sprengeri [late flowering and a raging glossy scarlet]. Climbers could include Tropeaolum speciosum [the climbing flame flower], annual Ipomoea lobata [Spanish flag], scarlet and deep purple Sweet Peas for scent and punctuation. Foliage might include Heuchera's, there are some great plummy-purply leaved one's about, Ajuga for ground cover and to provide contrast, and some of the Saxifraga fortuneii hybrids for moister shadier conditions. Dianthus also hit the spot if you want some scent, like Bat's Double Red and the very dark red bi-annual Sweet Williams Nigrescens. Also red-black shaded Knautias, Scabiosa atropurpurea cultivars and not forgetting Kniphofia [Red Hot Poker] of which there are so many delicious colours and forms to choose from which can give a long flowering period.

2003 update: Some of the Lychnis family can provide startling reds and oranges, currently I have L. cognata with it's large tan/orange flowers and I will also plant L. Vesuvius and L. viscaria Firebird in 2003. I shall be investigating Geums including that old stalwart Mrs Bradshaw. I am also tinkering with Phlox paniculata such as Starfire, Asters such as A. lateriflorus Prince [deep purple foliage] , A. September Ruby and A. novae-angliae Andenken an Alma Pötschke, reliable and vivid rich pink, as well as throwing in a few dark and tan bearded Irises for good measure. Annuals include Sweetpeas Black Knight and King Edward VII, Antirrhinums Black Prince and Defiance [rich, deep orange flowers and orange tinted foliage] and Eschscholzia californica Inferno and Carmine King. [NB: The Cosmos atrosanguineus turned up it's toes last year, I think the hard soil and quite exposed position proved too much for it]. The experimenting goes on! [Quite a few again succumbed the the drastic conditions and had to be moved elsewhere, i.e. Phlox]

Upping the ante 2004
If you want to get more dramatic, no mucking about with 'wussy' scarlets and coppers then this is for you:

I asked Karen Platt author of 'Black Magic and Purple Passion' to name her top 5 deepest purple perennial plants for the border:
1. Heuchera 'Obsidian'
2. Ipomoea 'Black Heart'
3. Aster 'Lady In Black'
4. Actaea [Cimicifuga] 'Hillside Black Beauty'
5. Geranium 'Victor Reiter' for darkest flowers and foliage
She also suggests trying Antirrhinum 'Black Prince', [and comments that it is not always so dark as it used to be]; Viola 'Bowles Black', much longer lasting than V 'Molly Sanderson' and Zantedeschia 'Schwarzwalder'.

Visit www.karenplatt.co.uk for more ideas and information

NB: I have found Antirrhinum 'Black Prince is variable from seed, just pick out the darkest forms. Geranium 'Purple Haze' is a selection from 'Victor Reiter', again variable from seed so weed out the lighter colours [Plant World Seeds]

This article gives some further 'hot' theme planting ideas

References:
The Vanishing Garden [1986] Brickell and Sharman
Cottage Garden Flowers [1961] Margery Fish
Colour by Design [1998] Nori and Sandra Pope
V.Sackville-West's Garden Book [1968]

@Kari's garden 2002 - 2006 [updated June 2006]