Making a colourful beds or boarders with Herbaceous plants
A colorful herbaceous bed or boarders planted with varying colours that are clearly visible have a cheerful effect. Flowers that have the same colour can also be combined in a single bed.
Combining flower colours
It is good to use one specific colour in an herbaceous bed. You can use the three colours of a colour trio, two complimentary colours or one colour run will do quiet well. White flowering plants can be added to soften the hard colours.
The right colours for every bed
When selecting colours the following factors for your herbaceous border to blend into the surroundings.
The size of the bed
Strong colours are ideal to small nooks in full sunlight. Plant blue campanula (Campanula) and orange-red day lilies (Hemerocallis hybrids) together these herbaceous flowers flower from early to late summer in splendid colours.
Subtle shades are ideal for large areas because they have an intense effect. A perfect combination for a large, sunny bed would be combining sea holly (Eryngium), the summer flowering ladys mantle (Alchmilla) and lambs' ear (Stachys). Stone crop (Sedium spectabile) and asters (Aster dumosus) can be added to the design to create a stunning highlight in the garden.
The size of the garden
Fiery red appears to create points that are distant. The colours are clearly visible from afar and they also have a constricting effect. Thus be sparing with intense colours in a small garden. Pastel shades appear to vanish against the sky, dissolve boundaries and thereby make a small garden look big.
The surroundings of a bed
A subtle range of colours in an herbaceous bad creates a calming effect assisting small areas to look larger. Select colour runs for the flower colours. Large solitary plants will be ideal. Flowers such as Aquilegia hybrids, cranes bill (Geranium himalayense), primula (Primula denticulate) and cornflower which flower early in summer can be planted in a semi-shady bed.
Softening effects
A herbaceous bed comprising mostly of strong colours appears hard in bright sunlight. The colour contrasts can be softened using white-flowering plants or herbaceous plants with light-coloured leaves. Softening flowers create a balance especially if strong colours do not blend well together. Small flowering plants such as babys breathe (Gypsophila) and white valerian (Centranthus) lighten up their surroundings.
If your bed is in a sunny positon the grey-leaved herbaceous plants will be ideal as a softener for example mugwort (Astomisia) and lavender (Lavandula). If your bed is in a shady position, then softners create an effect of more light, livening the surroundings. Yellow-green or white-green variegated leaves such as Hosta, dead netter (Lamium maculatum) or lungwort ( Pulmonaria) lighten up the surroundings