Sunny Planting Combinations

Welcome to our Head Gardener’s Journal

In this monthly column, we will share technical aspects of our work and also keep you up to date about ongoing projects. If there is any topic you might want to hear more about, please ask during your next visit!

Sunny Planting Combinations

Now that summer is officially here, we cannot but hope that it will live up to its meaning and grace us with sunny days. While we still shudder recalling June’s open heavens and bleakness, it might lift our mood to admire some planting combinations which celebrate the summer sun.

Contrasts of purple and gold brighten any space. Iris ensata ‘Sensation’ amongst Primula bulleyana (left) along the Stroll Garden pond lend drama to the otherwise tranquil scenery. In the Kitchen Garden, where sun colours are the main theme, Achillea ‘Terracotta’ and Allium sphaerocephalon (right) create a striking contrast.

Achillea ‘Terracotta’ also provides a perfect background for the elegant Lilium henryi (left). In the back borders of the Kitchen Garden (right), the spidery flowers of Inula hookeri soften a mass of burnt orange Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’.

Golden Lilium leichtlinii and Crocosmia ‘Hellfire’ provide a riot of colour against Cotinus coggygria rubrifolius (left). Opposite this bold combination, Dahlia ‘Karma Choc’ is staged beautifully against a veil of Foeniculum vulgare ‘Giant Bronze’ (right).

Let’s hope that these beauties will be spared a battering from further rain!