My entire foundation bed is done in soft yellow, lavender and wine colors. I love the way they contrast and sooth when grouped together. Yellow, not calming? I find that pale yellow is very calming without being depressing (as some calming colors are actually depressing colors to me). Yellow is the best color ever!!!!! My fav, it doesn't has to be harsh. I think every color is garish in some tones and soothing in others. So, I say it depends on the yellow with how you use it, how it impacts you and your garden, etc. Yellow can be a very subtle color when used in subtle tones. There is a reason why yellow houses are the best sellers (or, at least, used to be when people chose what they liked instead of going with the crowd and what designers told them was "in"). Yellow certainly can be a team player as well. It depends on the team...

Now, if we were talking about PINK, I'd tell you how it's not allowed in my garden, not a stitch of it! No petal, no plant, no way, no how! Good thing we don't have strong opinions here, LOL :)

Very interesting Funnthsun,

Am guessing the yellow of those houses referred to interior paint colour rather than brick colour.

Am pro yellow too.

They can say it's the most fatiguing colour to the eye, but to me, yellow's still the happy colour!

I don't like yellow. Red and Orange are my favorites. Reminds me of a sunset.

Yellow has unique visual impact as it is the spectral range to which the eye is most sensitive. This makes it in demand where catching the eye is somewhat hard to achieve. Two areas where I couldn't do without it:

1. Against medium to deep shade zones as at edge of woods.

2. Early spring when sunlight may not be very bright to make other colors as appealing.

I’m prejudiced against strong yellows. When I started gardening I got a lot of pass along plants, plus used a mail order nursery my mom liked that had no pictures, therefore not knowing what color the blooms would be That was before the time of being able to Google search. It turned out about half of what I got were strong yellows, like coreopsis. They just overpowered everything else. I recall reading some where that the color yellow projects more than others, which is an evolutionary reason for its dominance. They are more visible to pollinators. I think they’d be fine if they had strong colors with them. When they fizzled out I didn’t replace them, as my main garden has more pastels, and I’m going for a calm look, as this is where I relax. I like soft yellows for that garden.

Recently I stated making a strip garden on the south side of the house, where it is very difficult to water. I chose more drought resistant plants for this spot. Turns out a lot of such plants are a hot orangey yellow. They don’t need to match pastels here. I am trying to put other similarly intense colors here, like deep purple and red. (I would welcome suggestions for bright colors in drought resistant plants).

In yet other beds (front yard) I am seriously getting into non blooming foliage plants. I love the contrasting yellowish foliage of some heucheras with the dark purple ones; Japanese forest grass, etc. . It’s hard to find yellow plants for there that will live very long, though, as it gets some intense sun there for a few hours. But that’s not true yellow, just yellow-ish.

I've lived in this house for less than a year. I don't have my gardens anywhere close to where I want them. Here is some of my color right now.

I love the burgundy pansies, but they wouldn't show up if I didn't have a bright color next to them.

Here is another area. The last freeze knocked out some of the color. I haven't mulched because I'm not finished planting. I've got a little bit of yellow and other bright colors here too. To me, the yellow helps the other colors look even better.

The colour yellow must be the most contentious colour in gardening.

Blue: a lot of us love blue flowers. It just wouldn't seem right to say "I don't like blue". Red flowers: most of us don't "see red" (more below) when we view red flowers.

But we heap praise and scorn on yellow.

My personal feeling is "so what if yellow pokes you in the eye, it's still supposed to make you happy".

But maybe is all a matter of evolution (indicated above). Other things being equal, human beings see best in the yellow part of the visible light spectrum. So we can be more discriminating; hence see more to argue about.

I have recently read that human beings see best in the yellow to red part of the visible light spectrum.

So how come we don't argue about red flowers in the garden?

When gardeners object, they don't "see red", they "see yellow"!

P.S. I take it all back.

This post was edited by SunnyBorders on Thu, Mar 27, 14 at 17:35

The color yellow is contentious only in a more formal or conventional type of garden.

In a naturalized garden its a moot point. All colors are welcome in principle.

Those who plant the gardens shown above like Sunnyborders or who make comments such as those by woodyoak obviously lean toward the structured, conventional & controlled garden approach.

The Texas gardens shown above are naturalized. A romping artemisia would not a problem in such a garden, many plants are left to romp at will or seed about to produce a naturalized garden. That is what a naturalized garden is. There are no clean clipped borders or the typical edged lawn in such a garden. You will not see plants that are a result of hybridizing to produce variegated foliage, huge and/or double sterile flowers & other such nursery bred novelties, these would look silly, overdone & out of place.

My point is, some of the plants shown in the posts would look like "weeds" in a naturalized landscape if you use term weed correctly as "a plant that has no business growing there" because it is out of character in that setting. This principle works both ways. Many plants that look excellent in a naturalized gardens would look weedy in a conventional landscape or garden.

The idea that yellow is a problem is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to disagreeing or not having much in common concerning goals, personal taste & opinions. When having a discussion, its best to establish an understanding in the beginning of what kind of garden a person prefers, although it usually becomes obvious by the pictures and comments. Case in point--mammoth mums. Thats a tip off right there.

This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Fri, Mar 28, 14 at 17:42

As said, I definitely don't intend to colour coordinate mixed perennial beds. The measure of a perennial's value to me rest much more with practical matters such as it's "tameness" (e.g. not running or seeding).

But TexasRanger makes a valid point; namely, that marked colour preference seem often associate with more formal/ conventional types of gardening.

Presumably we all fit somewhere on scales of opposites, such as controlled/structured versus naturalized gardening. Personally, I aim for a garden which maximizes dense and changing colour and I find that definitely requires energetic control.

As to structure, I wouldn't want structure to ever be too obvious. Aiming for a colourful informality is just fine.

I certainly garden with a greater tendency to incorporate a structure that some (most?) see as formal, but I don't see the need - or value - in putting restrictive labels/making the choice an either/or one. I like to combine a 'wild'/natural feel within a more structured framework - I find that the 'formal' parts make the natural parts feel wilder, while the 'wild' elements make the 'formal' bits feel more formal.

Context matters too - this part of the country wants to be a woodland with layers of groundcover, perennials, shrubs, and trees. Green is the default color. While the front garden here is the colorful, largely conventional, 'public' face of the garden, the backyard is a woodland garden, set within a quasi-formal structure - but one which is intended to reproduce the feel of the farm-fields-and-bush environment of the east coast property where I grew up. A few years ago a friend who grew up in the same area visited here for the first time. She commented that the garden felt like 'home' - with 'home' meaning our shared childhood landscape. That is the best compliment my garden has ever received! Most people see the rectangular lawn in the backyard woodland-themed garden here as a odd formal element but my friend could see that it is based on the hayfields and pastures surrounded by woods in the landscape of our youth.

A Texas or other dryland garden will - and should! - look different from one in a northern temperate mixed forest environment. Vive la différence!

Maybe it can be broken down into categories? Starting from the wildest and working toward more control. Categories might look a bit like this? Except #2 and #3 are really rather close to the same thing.

*wild landscape>> natural indigenous plants, landscape on the side of the road or an acreage being managed.

*native wildflower garden>>butterfly, prairie or meadow garden.

*naturalized garden>>landscape incorporating natives shrubs & wildflowers blending in with the surrounding landscape with a transition zone.

*cottage garden>>English inspired look, lots of plants selected for flowers and color. Densely planted mainly for a floral effects and concentrating on bloom time of different plants for this purpose.

*conventional garden>>Typical suburban front yard w/shrubs, perennials and/or seasonal annuals in well defined beds. Well clipped & defined lawn area. Most people fall into this category.

*formal garden>>Lots of hybrid perennials shrubs & trees, much emphasis on planning & design, corporate & residential uses, very controlled and manicured. Often uses colorful annuals in mass plantings that are changed out in spring, summer & then fall.

*Then there's those big public European inspired gardens that take lots of maintenance, money & employees .

Which ever direction a person leans, discussions about topics like the color yellow can be like comparing chickens to horses & often results in talking at cross purposes. Its not so much about the color yellow, for example, its about the style of the garden.

I don't think anyone would mistake this for a Texas planting, unless it's a one week annual planting in February!
I love this mix in tulips of white and pale yellow in the same bloom, the closeby daffodil planting was more a case of me forgetting what was where when I popped the bulbs in. I was surprised by how much I liked the mix.

I'm loving the photos in this thread, it sure goes a long way in stirring up the spring fever!
Here's a mix of yellow plus variegation... a doubling up of two of the plants that might not be a good fit for your house Woody!
The picture is from Chanticleer- variegated boston ferns, hakonechloa, and some other stuff I don't know.

Kato, tulips and daffies and jonquils last three days maybe and need to be planted every year. ( not the jonquils). I ripped mine out . they looked so outs of place and were gone in a blink when they flowered.

I think the garden we get is the garden we deserve. And that is a combination of wants, environmental practicalities, possibilities, style, capabilities and effort spent.

I need strong colors to combat the strong light. Got to be able to see it when you are squinting and sweating out in the sun. If we are in drought, even our shade is compromised by not enough leaves in the trees and the trees are holding them at an angle.

xeric is usually yellow , white, red. My palette is reduced, but I don't miss it. I get to have it in spring and treasure it then. Blues are ephemeral in the spring mostly. I think Texas shoots its blue wad with all those Blue bonnets, showy primrose, paintbrushes. I get salvia farinacea to bloom white and blue into the early summer. Guys in town have a kinder environment but even there people are leaning away from the things that need constant care (= constant water) because of strict water rationing. Desert willows give us some lavenders and pale pinks in the summer, so it is not all a wash out. My rosemaries are blooming blue now. Other salvias give us lots of warm reds, strong pinks, violets, fuchsias and even a peach or two but those usually need more water. Come fall, the purples and colors and midnight blues come back for a great showing.

Some pale colors can be more apparent in the shade. I do not garden for color as much as for that frozen magical moment. Like in October I place a Salvia regal in a spots in deep shade normally but when the low sun rakes in and stabs that blooming bush, it is on fire. I plan for the sense of scale as I look across the field. I garden more for lights and darks and structure. Color is the surprise.

To be honest , I am happy with whatever I get. To me, garden ins a case of serendipity from start to finish. I accept that I am not in control. My act of faith is scattering the seed and seeing the laitris increasing in my field, year by year.

My eye is never to fatigued for a gander at a yellow englmanni daisy or 4 nerve daisy.

This post was edited by wantonamara on Fri, Mar 28, 14 at 23:44

Those bulbs could be a Texas planting or any other state in the union for that matter, so thinking that couldn't be Texas is not at all accurate. Daffs & jonquils are perennial here where I live, tulips need to be replanted each fall. I don't grow bulbs because they are so common I can easily enjoy them elsewhere. All are blooming in profusion right now. Iris is common here too, as are all the typical spring blooming trees and shrubs most people in other zones or states would associate with early spring.

When summer sets in, thats a different matter. Of course, there are those refined souls with certain tastes in gardening & plants who have installed sprinkler systems with timers that go on every other day & they selfishly insist on growing plants that need supplemental water all summer along with the required green lawn as if water is not restricted & there is an unlimited supply.

Maybe these people come from another part of the country & insist on recreating the same garden elsewhere. Maybe its entitlement or selfishness. Maybe nursery's encourage it with their selections and they think native plants are somehow not to their taste. Whatever is the motivation, I am not impressed, although I think I am supposed to be, its so "pretty". Instead, it makes me sick to see it & has made me dislike certain kinds of plants/gardens over the years.

Many of the plants I see on this forum are grown here by those who insist on doing it because the nursery's carry the flashy thirstier hybrids & people buy them each year. Its irritating when the selection of more suitable native plants are low & that so many people stay in traditional patterns of gardening & plant choices.

The native plants are showing up more than in the past but its difficult to change people especially when most can only come up with a couple types of plants, such as echinacea or rudebeckia when they think of natives or cactus & gravel when someone suggests xeric.

Its not a matter of "can't grow it" its a matter of "should you grow it". I personally don't feel any plant or garden is worth wasting water anymore.

This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Sat, Mar 29, 14 at 1:38

"Entitlement or selfishness" ?

Environmental awareness or social consciousness aside, gardeners discussing colour can be a bit like other people discussing politics or religion.

Still I'm on the side of colour (or color).

Picture below (October 20, 2013, repeated). Not much colour left then in the garden. I'd say blue and red (and green) are as good as yellow and yellow is as good as blue and red (and green).

Very attractive picture, Kato.
Thanks. It does remind us that there's more to an achieving an attractive gardening outcome than just relying on bloom colour.

This post was edited by SunnyBorders on Sat, Mar 29, 14 at 13:24

Sunnyborders

When I said entitled or selfish, I was referring to what I continue to observe each summer with local people who live in drought conditions & still insist on planting whatever they want. They install sprinkler systems & turn them on every other day, some do it every day. The lakes are down, we have had only 20% of our average rainfall for this time so far this year. One lake currently has less water in it than the amount used last year.

The nursery's do not help. They offer the typical flashy thirsty stuff & people keep buying it. It is frustrating because a dose of reality & some common sense would go a long way in plant choices & introducing more suitable plants which would help to change peoples attitudes in plant selections. If the selections aren't there, people are going to continue to buy what is offered, meaning the standard nursery fare that is easy to find everywhere.

Other plants exist & many of us would like to see these being offered as better choices for our conditions. As it is, they are hard to find. I get most of my plants from growing seed or trades.

As it happens, the color yellow plays a big part in a dry garden as the photos indicate so to poo poo the entire color causes a response. Around here, plants such as Mammoth Mums would require wasteful quantities of watering to get them through summer. If I wanted mums, which I don't, I'd buy nursery plants in fall & let some nursery pay to keep them watered. As it is, there are other fall blooming plants that do not need that.

The look of a dry garden is such that the plants you grow in your garden would appear jarringly out of place. Different gardens have their own characteristics & what works in in a dry garden has a unified look that ties the plants together.

Do not take that as a comment on your garden, it is my story told from where I live.

This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Sat, Mar 29, 14 at 20:12

Texas Ranger - I think the other key element in changing the garden practices in droughty areas is getting wider exposure for attractive gardens that use regionally-appropriate water-wise plantings. If the commonly visible models are of the water-hog type, that is what the people who want easy 'curb appeal' gardens without too much thought, will emulate. So badger/assist local garden centers to make attractive groupings of appropriate plants and/or display gardens; if you have a local horticultural society that has a garden tour, try to get them to increase the number of attractive 'native'-type gardens on the tour - volunteer your own garden to be a host garden...?; post pictures on forums etc. where people go for information, showing and talking up the beauty and ease of the plants without being too 'heavy' about it :-) A sad fact is that most homeowners are not gardeners so they just want to do what's easy and accepted/expected. It's a hard, slow process to change expectations; old habits die hard!

Golden Rain Tree

Jane

View from a window in Spring.

Jane

Uh, don't really think I'm the badgering type, committees & such give me hives & the plate is pretty full already. Think I'll just stick to the track I'm on & keep plugging away hoping to find others interested in the same plants. As far as posting pic on forums, I just did. Don't mean to come off heavy, just reporting the situation, using some common sense & making a case for yellow flowers. I do believe we have a softer look here & fortunately I prefer the look of xeric plants.

Who knows, maybe some other people are successfully gardening in similar situations & may pop in, its possible. Wantamara is one & she had a couple plants I was unfamiliar with.

Jane, That Golden Raintree is stunning. Nice color.

Yellows in a flower box
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Yellow and reds in a flower box on the deck
I love the combination of pinks, purples, reds and yellows
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A yellow orchid
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Daisies
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Texas Ranger, I totally agree with you. Most of my pics were taken when I lived in NY. Totally different growing environment than south Florida, where I live now.

I have always had a fondness for yellows. I think they make a garden pop and draw your eye to the garden or container. They make a striking contrast with reds, pinks and purples. Without yellow, those colors fade into the background.

I am presently planting yellow foliage bushes interspersed throughout my garden bed to add contrast to any flowers I plant. In my new, hot environment, I am trying to eliminate grass and plant only flowers which are native or can tolerate low rain and heat. It is still new to me, but I know yellows will be a part of it.

I can't imagine a garden without yellows.

Jane

Jane, I sure do like that lantana with the hot pink petunias. I just finished planting the last lantana plant in the ground that I started from seeds. I went crazy with them along a long dry border where I have some pretty bad soil and it stays dry. I've got 6 flavors of them going now.

I think of Bougainvillea when I first hear Florida because I can't grow it here & like it so much. Maybe they are like Crepe Myrtles here, one growing in nearly every street median & yard causing me to snub them as too common. Woops, off topic, neither of those is yellow. But they do go good with yellow.

You have what wantanamara would describe as comic book colors in that third shot, I love it. I get that fun combination all on one plant with the yellow flowers & the long red stamens on the Yellow Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinia gilliesii). Its pretty gaudy. There in Florida you can grow the better red kind thats not hardy here. There are a lot of plants from Mexico I really wish I could grow so I'd be tempted to break the native Florida rule in that zone & finally get to do more than look at pictures. It would be fun to have so many flower possibilities in winter.

I got rid of all the grass here too, the lawn kind anyway, made the whole place more colorful. I keep adding silver & blue foliage plants. I like the way its sets off other colors plus they are usually "ever-silver" adding something nice in winter to go with the soft maize colored dormant grasses.

I think most people want what they see. There's not much thought to it and they just want pretty much what most of the neighbors have.
When I lived in Texas the first things I planted were agaves, sages, and heirloom amaryllis bulbs from a neighbor. I loved all the wildflowers and my landlord was getting nervous since I would mow around all the winecups and alliums and spring beauties that were in my less than perfect lawn... his response was to give me a Bradford pear since I "was into planting things". I just saw on Google streetview that it still hasn't died and keeps growing like the weed it is.
So I don't think it matters much where you're from, it matters what your influences are.
The Dallas arboretum always had an amazing display of tulips and daffodils and other spring bulbs... all disposable, but I'm sure many visitors wanted it for their own gardens.
Jane I was just thinking how I don't like gold all that much, but that orchid is amazing!

Woody- I planted 500 crocus and it still wasn't too impressive a patch. Mine were the snow crocus, and they're early enough to do well in a lawn, but the grass is still so dead looking that the colors don't show up as well.
I would try and duplicate Sunnyborder's planting. The dutch hybrid crocus do very well in a flower bed like that and if you put them a little further in you won't even notice the foliage ripening later.... and if you dig them up accidentally throughout the year they seem to like the replanting and spreading out.
How about a few colchicums in the lawn? Bigger leaves but they die down just as fast, and compete well with grass.

Texas Ranger, I agree with your comments on planting zone-appropriate and ... condition-appropriate plants, if "condition" is the right word. Not only condition for the spot you are planting (i.e. not planting a thirsty plant in a hot, dry spot of one's yard) but in general, I think, even in places like CT which are not as dry as Texas, we have to consider the growing water shortage in the world, and should do our part to help by planting natives and xerics, etc.

And I agree that nurseries need to play a part in that, by promoting native and appropriate plants.

I absolutely cringe when I pass by a house whose watering system is going when it's raining out. I admit to being somewhat anti-watering system to begin with (I think lawns in general use too many fertilizers, too much water, and too much fossil fuel to maintain), but when I see the sprinklers working in a rainfall, it gets my goat.

Jane, your photos are very colorful and VERY welcome on this dreary day. I find your use of red, yellow and pink interesting, as they are strictly segregated in my garden, lol! I'll use yellow with pinks and purples, and yellows with reds and oranges, but I hardly ever use them all together. Maybe I'll take a step out of my color comfort zone this year with some container plantings....

Dee

kato - I just found out yesterday that our town is doing a storm water management study this year in the areas of town, like ours, where storm water is 'managed' with roadside ditches. It sounds like there's a reasonable possibility that the ditches will be replaced in a year or two with an 'engineered' (i.e. buried pipes etc.) system. If that's the case, there's no point in adding new bulbs because they'll likely all be dug up! I just hope my 'moat bed' along the top of the ditch will survive since parts of it are actually on the setback strip that belongs to the town. I'd particularly hate to lose the wisteria trees in that bed - assuming they've survived this winter! (I can see some buds swelling on the Chinese wisteria but can't tell if any are flowerbuds and I can't get close enough to the Japanese one to see if any buds survived on that one. The wisterias blooming are one of the highlights of spring that we most look forward to.)

The moat bed May 31 2013:
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Kato, I agree, most people mainly want pretty. The flowers are usually the biggest draw & there's all that joyous optimistic buying in spring. I don't blame the privately owned nursery's as much as places like Home Depot & Walmart & its that kind of typical fare of familiar plants that sells. Unless people are up on plants, they have no inkling beyond the visual. Private nursery's will answer questions & point out such things as water wise.

Locally its hard to avoid knowing about the drought condition. We have always had these periodic patterns, its the norm. 2012 & 2013 killed so many plants, trees & shrubs that many people are now interested in wiser choices, you know how it works, once the thing hits you in your backyard, its no longer just talk & you finally see what the hollering has been about.

Diggerdee, The biggest water hogging culprit is lawns. Seeing a sprinkler going on a rainy day is common with the number of systems set on automatic timers but the thing that really REALLY makes me cringe, or see red to be more accurate, is the sheer numbers of systems going on & off in all those average middle class neighborhoods. It used to be something you'd see only on golf courses or rich peoples triple sized lawns. That makes you stop and think in terms of gallonssssssss. You see the water running down the street into drainage holes. Its a case of the dumbass multiplied by 1000's & for what? Bermuda Grass. Or worse, high maintenance fescue.

I got into xeric plants way before the drought simply because I like them better. Many of the plants have deep tap roots which makes them difficult candidates for commercial plant sales & are best started from seed or tiny plants. Often they look scrubby & dull up next to the brighter typical nursery plants so they don't really catch the eye, they definitely aren't at their visual best in that situation. Of course, yellow is a big color in xeric choices & many don't go for it or grey foliage either.

One of my own favs is yellow flowers on a grey/blue foliage plant.

I'm forever on the lookout for them & its always a red letter day when I find an odd duck plant like that. Usually I am disappointed because there is nothing much sold like that in the average places around here.

However, if you go to a nursery that specializes in such plants, the effect is entirely different. You then see the over all look of textures/colors, its a much softer quieter effect especially when its without the contrast & distraction of the more commonly sold greener & more colorful nursery plants.

Sorry this is getting off topic.

Can be rather amusing, in some respects, to hear other folks opinions. (In other respects, it can be down right aggravating.)

The original topic: yellow

Personally, I'm a big yellow fan ... especially of clean, bright yellows. It's possible, I suppose, that there is some gypsy somewhere in the family gene pool -- I like riots of color in the flowerbeds ... bright reds, yellows & oranges, deep rich purples & reds. I also like a variety of form and structure. I can't say it always harmonizes well, but I'm okay with that.

My parents' house is a pale shade of yellow and always has been. Looks nice with the dark green of the woods behind it and the trees in front of it.

Pastels tend to bore me, although I freely admit to having seen gardens with a pastel palette that were quite beautiful.

Whites are one of my least favorites in flower color. Oh they can be spectacular when the flower first opens, but as the flower ages, whites tend to get ratty looking far faster than most other colors, IMO. If you are willing & able to deadhead daily you can keep on it, but otherwise ...

Regarding the trendy designers poo-pooing yellow or any other plant/color as too plebian, they can shove it where the sun don't shine and rotate a while. I've never had much tolerance for the fashion mavens ... whether it be clothing, plants, pets, whatever. Even less patience for the brainless twits who hang on their every word.

Crocus in lawn topic:
Have crocus and anemone in my folks' lawn. I just scatter the seeds. Crocus foliage blends in well with grass. As my dad generally has the lawnmower blade set rather high (better for water retention of the lawn) the foliage persists throughout the summer.

Xeriscaping:
My dad would hate living in those types of arid areas ... he is very much into the lawn look.

Can't say I'd be thrilled either. While I am not a fan of "the lawn", I do enjoy many of the plants that would never survive in hot arid regions without a lot of pampering. That said, if I did live in such an area, my water lovers would be indoors with me. Outdoors would have to submit to those plants that could handle the conditions as well as xeriscaping with stone.

I think some folks who are transplants from more water rich areas probably get homesick for the familiar -- hence the lawn and water hog plants. Others, as has been stated, have no clue and are simply following what our culture promotes as "what you should grow".

How about all the idiots in Nevada -- especially Las Vegas -- with the lawns, golf courses, huge outdoor fountains & swimming pools? Same goes for those in southern California or any other similar region and who then complain about the water shortages and "Why can't we just take more water from the Colorado River (which "obviously" must be an unlimited supply)?". Morons!

(Not that I have any strong feelings on the subject. hehe)

There's a town close by that shares the lake I mentioned with a large city, the lake that has less water in it currently than was used liberally last year by the greedy hogs with the lovely green manicured lawns in the bigger city. The city claimed rights to this lake way back when & the poor town is getting pretty thirsty as a result.

The water hogs are belly aching about getting fined for breaking the law over water restrictions, which they seem to think doesn't really apply to them. "The Audacity!" I have heard them talk, I use the word entitlement justifiably. Sorry if that offends anyone.

The little town folk are raising a catty wompus over the waste they see going on in the big city, understandably a they're a tad bit worked up and resentful, running out of water does strange things to folks.

In the meantime, people in the big city are already running their sprinklers regularly as clockwork on the dormant bermuda. The word moron fits here. Makes me want to puke. "Moron" is too nice a word for them. Greedy & all swole up with themselves is how I see it. They want what they want & there's an end to that discussion.

There is one good white that doesn't fade & blooms all season. Blackfoot Daisy, the plant never stops blooming & it doesn't need a "drinkie" either, it can get by on what falls from the sky for free. I think white roses always look dirty pretty quickly.

delete double post

This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Mon, Mar 31, 14 at 18:00

Another great yellow (Aug 31, 2013).

Helenium 'Sonnenwunder'.

I think one appreciates colors even more when one reflects on their symbolism and associations. The blogger Ferrebeekeeper, who often writes about color, informs us that: "In dynastic China, the color yellow was considered to be the most beautiful and prestigious color. Yellow was symbolically linked with the land itself and the turning of tao: thus yellow became associated with the mandate of heaven -- the emperor’s divine prerogative over the middle kingdom. Huang Di, the mythical first emperor of China (who was worshiped as a culture hero and a powerful magician/sage) was more commonly known as 'the yellow emperor'. ... During the Ming dynasty, when a yellow glaze was discovered for porcelain, it was initially the exclusive provenance of the imperial household."

Here is a link that might be useful: Imperial Yellow

Funinthesun,

Is that a Red shift coreopsis?

I'm surprised it did well for me. I really liked the blooms. I had it in full sun for a while, then the maple tree decided to branch and I lost any kind of sun. I should have moved it, but I had forgot about it.

I'm really enjoying this in-depth dialogue on just one colour. Fascinating. Like so many others here, I never deliberately set out to have yellow in my garden, but I do enjoy how it makes arrangements pop right out and I can't ignore that whole yellow/happy thing. It's so true!

These are my favourite yellow flowers - marguerite daisy (argyranthemum). They are annuals here but look so good with my perennials. Indispensible to me. Here they are with lamb's ears and some type of catmint.

Beautiful combination, pam! Lovely, soft yellow color!

Dee

Thanks, Dee! Yes, I love the pale, soft yellow and it seems to go with everything.

I've had trouble finding them every year but this year a local nursery has promised to order some and put a few aside for me. Counting the days now... 15 more days until the last frost date!

Yellow on the wild side--- yellow dyssodia, silver primrose, macrocentra opuntia, polyacantha opuntia & purple flopping liatris.

I love those little yellow subshrubs, you really can't have too many cuz they just bloom & bloom........& bloom. Seems its usually the yellow blooming perennials that are good for doing that.

This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Mon, Apr 14, 14 at 17:37

Is that Liatris muncronato? Love the purple and yellow. That seems to be a very fall combo.

I think L. punctata, its from Kansas. It is not happy or else just drunk-- maybe its crawling from too much spring rain on the bottom of the slope? It put out those snakey stems in early August, then it put up a bunch of new straight ones that bloomed in fall which was sort of weird. The ones planted up higher on the slope were straight, much shorter & bloomed later. I sent a big bagful of seed south down Austin way.

This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Tue, Apr 15, 14 at 1:56

I scattered them in the front field a month ago. Maybe they are out there germinating in the rain water right now.

I love the yellow argyranthemums too.
This one is Jamaica Primrose with Miscanthus Cosmopolitan.

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It flowers much longer than my other argyranthemums do.
They all fizzle out in the heat of the summer, but this one just keeps going.

Californian poppies.

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Daffodils
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and narcissus

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Pots

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self seeded verbascum

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and I seem to have lots of yellow roses.

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Daisy

Daisy, gorgeous pics of a beautiful garden! What is that kind of apricot-y rose with... is it larkspur? Some kind of Austin? Just lovely!

Dee

Golden stargazer from my garden 2013.

Dee, the rose is Buff Beauty. Easy, scented and flowers all summer.
The little blue flower with it is Consolida regalis Blue Cloud.
It is an annual/biennial. I sowed the seed last November and they started flowering in February.

Lovely lilies Maet.
Daisy

I ran across this last night & am finding myself in love with narrow leaf zinnias. I like the bright orange/yellow or yellow ones, I had seen the pink & white ones but was never drawn to them. I like this natural wild look.

Is anyone growing this? I read it blooms all summer into fall. I've snubbed zinnias forever, until now.

Is it too late to sow zinnia seeds? If not is it easy & successful to direct sow?

Can't help.
Below: where we're at today.

Crocus flavus.
Seems less affected by the continuing cold spells than the larger purple and white Dutch crocuses.