{"id":2958,"date":"2020-01-20T05:54:03","date_gmt":"2020-01-20T13:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=2958"},"modified":"2020-01-20T05:54:03","modified_gmt":"2020-01-20T13:54:03","slug":"tangled-up-in-blue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/tangled-up-in-blue\/","title":{"rendered":"Tangled Up in Blue"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Winsome<\/a>
Winsome and still bright blue–Second year hyacinth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every year the Pantone Color Institute introduces its \u201cColor of the Year\u201d, reflecting what the Institute thinks is the zeitgeist or prevailing mood for a particular 365-day period.\u00a0 The 2020 color is \u201cClassic Blue\u201d, a shade lighter than navy blue, but deeper than sky blue.\u00a0 On the large Pantone color chart, it is number 19-4052.<\/p>\n

Pantone\u2019s Executive Director gets downright poetic when she describes this year\u2019s blue hue:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWe are living in a time that requires trust and faith.\u00a0 It is this kind of constancy and confidence that is inspired by 19-4052, Classic Blue, a solid and dependable blue hue we can always rely on.\u00a0 Imbued with a deep resonance, Classic Blue provides an anchoring foundation.\u00a0 A boundless blue, evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky, Classic Blue encourages us to look beyond the obvious, to expand our thinking; challenging us to think more deeply, increase our perspective and open the flow of communication.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I am not sure that one color can do all that, but I do know that every garden can probably use a little more blue.\u00a0 Depending on the shade, blue can work well in a number of settings.\u00a0 Pale blues combine perfectly with other pastels in a cottage-type layout.\u00a0 People who love \u201cwhite\u201d gardens, composed predominately of white, silver, gray and cream-colored flowers and foliage, appreciate the power of blue as an accent color.\u00a0 Blue-leaved hostas add interest to shady places.<\/p>\n

I am especially partial to combining shades of blue and yellow, and someday I am going to devote an entire bed or border to that color scheme.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, I am thinking of blue plants to add to the spring garden.\u00a0 The following are some possibilities.<\/p>\n

Tradescantia: <\/strong>Tradescantia or spiderwort grows like a weed in my garden, popping up and thriving just about everywhere.\u00a0 It is especially effective in partial shade.\u00a0 Most spiderwort flowers are more purple than blue, but some varieties veer strongly towards the blue side.\u00a0 \u2018Blue and Gold\u2019 is billed as one of those and it has the added attraction of golden-green foliage, which is a great contrast and all-around garden brightener.<\/p>\n

Nigella: <\/strong>English cooking guru, Nigella Lawson, was named after her father, Nigel, but she shares her first name with a lovely annual, Nigella damascena.\u00a0 A member of the buttercup family, nigella is sometimes known as \u201clove-in-a-mist\u201d.\u00a0 The flowers, which sit like stars atop the stalks, can be white, or shades of pink or purple, but my favorite nigella color is sky blue.\u00a0 The leaves are delicate and ethereal\u2014almost lacey\u2014and even the seedheads are pretty enough to include in dried arrangements.\u00a0 Best of all, you can grow nigella from seed in any sunny space.\u00a0 In succeeding years it will self-seed.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t like the other flower colors, you can always grub them out and go with blue alone.<\/p>\n

Caryopteris: <\/strong>Blue mist shrub or bluebeard, as caryopteris is known, shines at the end of summer when other flowers are beginning to flag.\u00a0 It is a compact deciduous shrub that rarely grows larger than two feet tall and wide.\u00a0 The flowerheads, composed of myriad tiny individual flowers, look like puffs of blue mist, and attract butterflies.\u00a0 One whiff of the green or green-and-white variegated foliage tells you that caryopteris is a member of the enormous mint or Lamiaceae family.\u00a0 Most of the commercially-available blue mist shrubs are varieties of Caryopteris x clandonensis.\u00a0 \u2018Longwood Blue\u2019 boasts medium blue flowers, while \u2018Dark Knight\u2019 bears puffs of darker, blue-purple blooms.\u00a0 Blue mist shrub is so good that it deserves wider garden use.<\/p>\n

Morning Glory<\/strong>: Blue morning glories or Ipoemea, are so simple and beautiful that people sometimes overlook them.\u00a0 But if you have ever seen a trellis covered with \u2018Heavenly Blue\u201d blossoms in high summer, you know how effective these blue wonders are.\u00a0 I bought one package of morning glory seeds about fifteen years ago to grow up the trellising that surrounds the supports for my back porch.\u00a0 I have never had to plant them since, because they have self-seeded quite thoroughly every year.\u00a0 When you are ready to plant your morning glories, soak the fat seeds for eight hours beforehand.\u00a0 This loosens the tough seed coverings and speeds germination.\u00a0 After that, just sit back and wait for heavenly blue to transport you with its blue trumpets.<\/p>\n

Delphiniums: <\/strong>I wish I could grow perennial delphiniums, but they really dislike the hot sticky summers in my area.\u00a0 Still, they are so beautiful, with their ramrod straight stalks of lighter or darker blue flowers, that it is almost worth it to grow them as annuals.\u00a0 They do, of course, come in white or pink as well, and plants in those colors mix perfectly with their blue siblings, but for my money, blue delphiniums make some of the best vertical accents in the garden.\u00a0 If you are afraid of plants that need staking, have no fear.\u00a0 Modern compact varieties can often hold themselves up with no help from the gardener.\u00a0 Plenty of water, sunshine and regular fertilization will give your delphiniums the best chance at summer glory and even, possibly, a return engagement the following year.<\/p>\n

And if all else blue fails, I can\u2019t think of a better summer scene than a garden full of \u2018Nikko Blue\u2019 hydrangeas in full bloom.\u00a0 The sturdy blue globes, redolent of both New England beaches and lazy southern summers, will chase away any psychic blues that might be cluttering your mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every year the Pantone Color Institute introduces its \u201cColor of the Year\u201d, reflecting what the Institute thinks is the zeitgeist or prevailing mood for a particular 365-day period.\u00a0 The 2020 color is \u201cClassic Blue\u201d, a shade lighter than navy blue, but deeper than sky blue.\u00a0 On the large Pantone color chart, it is number 19-4052. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3,5],"tags":[150,2240,334,1705,333,2239,2243,2242,1489,2241,703,416,415],"class_list":["post-2958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","category-winter","tag-blue-flowers","tag-blue-leaves","tag-blue-mist-shrub","tag-bluebeard","tag-caryopteris","tag-classic-blue","tag-delphinium","tag-ipoemea","tag-morning-glory","tag-nigella-damascena","tag-pantone","tag-spiderwort","tag-tradescantia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2958"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2959,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2958\/revisions\/2959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}