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shadeyplace

formal with lots of color

shadeyplace
9 years ago

My son has a client who wants a formal, very colorful entrance to his "estate">>he already has a very well designed garden but now wants lots of color but formal and low maintenance. Is such a thing possibly? I always think of lots of flowers as not being formal. He does have a full time gardener to tend. What plants would you all suggest? I believe this is in sun.

Comments (13)

  • gardenweed_z6a
    9 years ago

    They aren't "formal" in the strictest sense but they do add a ton of color: daylilies are available in a wide range of colors and bloom early, mid- and late season. In March the Hellebores/Lenten roses provide both foliage and bloom to the early season garden beds along with Jacob's ladder, Virginia bluebells, Brunnera, bleeding heart & woodland phlox (P. divaricata).

    I have spirea blooming now as well as Penstemon/beardtongue 'Mystica.' Shasta daisy 'Crazy Daisy' is putting on a show at the moment as are Maltese cross, Coreopsis 'Zagreb' and several Astilbe cultivars. Later in the season, black snakeroot and toad lily start blooming and add foliage contrast. Platycodon/balloon flower blooms white, pink, or blue in both single and double forms.

    Baptisia/false indigo provides a zero-care vertical element early in the season. Nepeta/catmint is an all-season bloomer.

  • shadeyplace
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks. Baptisia slipped my mind. A great suggestion.

  • mxk3 z5b_MI
    9 years ago

    Um..he has a full-time gardener and he's worried about low maintenance? Anyone see the humor in that? LOL!

    The possibilities are numerous, it would help to see a pic.

    Although, for season-long color I would suggest annuals. Wax begonia, annual vinca, marigolds, geraniums lend themselves well to a formal look.

    This post was edited by mxk3 on Sun, Jun 29, 14 at 12:56

  • a2zmom_Z6_NJ
    9 years ago

    How about boxwood hedges with clematis growing through it? Can't get more formal than boxus but the clematis will brighten it up, especially if a mix of varieties are used,

  • shadeyplace
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I know, my son said the same thing. L.OL. Why care about low maintenance? I believe these people already have a formal knot garden in the back with box.
    Did you mean clematis climbing over the box?

  • Campanula UK Z8
    9 years ago

    lots of hedging and pleaching (yew and hornbeam are english classics) usually leaves a nicely solid green background to foreground more colourful perennials and annuals.

  • NHBabs z4b-5a NH
    9 years ago

    This garden designer (Deborah Silver) manages to often combine colorful with formal. Looking at photos in her blog may spark some ideas.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Dirt Simple, Deborah Silver

  • sunnyborders
    9 years ago

    Wanting low maintenance and having a full time gardener;
    how big is the property?

    If it's flower colour: What about annuals?
    Are bedded annual beds more formal than mixed perennial beds?

  • a2zmom_Z6_NJ
    9 years ago

    shadeyplace, that's exactly what I meant.

  • davids10 z7a nv.
    9 years ago

    go on line for arley hall and packwood-cant go much further with formal design and maximum colour

  • PRO
    Whitelacey
    9 years ago

    Formality in a garden has to do mostly with the layout and repetition of plants, not necessarily the plant material itself. Think straight lines and repeating themes of plantings.

    Linda

  • shadeyplace
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for all of your input.

  • shadeyplace
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    front of house

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