Bring a Sunny Disposition to Your Container Plantings
CONTAINED
BRILLIANCE
There's just something about yellow
Last month, I shared that tete a tetes signify the arrival of spring for me. I recently found myself thinking about what is it about tete a tetes that makes me feel so cheerful and happy. Is it something as simple as their color? Yellow symbolizes happiness. One of the most energetic colors, it is associated with sunshine, hope and optimism. Yellow is said to bring a certain clarity of thought and represent a love of learning. It’s the color of daffodils, lemons, goldfinches, and bees. Yet, because yellow can be bold and irritating if overdone, it is a color that many container gardeners shy away from.
Yellow is the brightest and lightest color in the spectrum, and can pose a conundrum when it comes to incorporating it into a container planting. Our human eyes process yellow before other colors. It grabs our attention. Yellow flowers carry farther, shine brighter and can be seen longer in the evenings than all other colors (with the exception of white). This is why designing with yellow should be intentional and full of care. You want to ensure that your container planting is not overpowered by yellow, but instead accented by yellow — balancing its beauty with the other plants around it.
Designing with yellow should be intentional and full of care
I like to use yellow to create a warm and cheerful mood, to energize a planting, or to brighten a space when a container is located in a dark or shady area. There are lots of shades of yellow that can be used for this effect, ranging from soft muted pastels to golds. I tend to use it sparingly and with intention as an accent color. My preference is often to place yellow blooming plants off-center or at the back of a planting. This moves the eye through a planting and avoids just one pop of color front-and-center. And the addition of yellow to my plantings doesn’t necessarily mean adding yellow flowers! Using yellow can look like incorporating a Joy Yellow Begonia into a shade planting, or utilizing golden yellow foliage in the form of coleus or lysimachia aurea.
The best advice I have when it comes to deciding whether to bring yellow into your container plantings is to think about a “color scheme” and remember that when designing with yellow, less can be more. Choosing combinations when designing with yellow can take a little bit of trial and error (and confidence!) but the great thing about planting with seasonal annuals is that they can be easily changed out if you feel like a combination doesn’t work well.
Here are a some tried and true combinations to support you in designing successfully with yellow.
- Yellow and purple are complimentary colors. They can be a striking combination that adds a pop of color and vibrancy while also remaining aesthetically pleasing.
- Yellow, red and blue are also a nice energetic combination, although a bit unrealistic in the world of gardening as there a few true blue flowers and plants to contrast yellow and red with. A more realistic and pleasing combination is to create a red-violet and violet combination with yellow. This is considered a split complimentary combination on the gardener’s color wheel.
- Yellow combined with chartreuse and amber, analogous colors, can be a pleasing combination that blend nicely with one another. Yellow’s brightness leans toward orange or green and can be calming to the eye.
- Yellow foliage or flowers paired with white (equally as bright as yellow) against dark evergreens highlights the plants and always offers a crisp, fresh, simple stylish look.
- Plant monochrome! Using all yellow in varying shades of creamy butters with the backdrop of green will create a restrained brightness and cheerful mood.
- Finally, yellow’s brightness can hold up well with warm reds, hot pinks and oranges, making for a vibrant and harmonious planting.
With these simples secrets to create an eye-catching, beautiful container, you now have the pinnings to go out and make your world a little brighter!
