Colors affect us on an emotional level. For example, deep blue appeals to many of us because it is so calming. If you combine it with a cheerful yellow, the results are even more satisfying. In fact, the blend of blue and yellow seems to be a favorite among gardeners and artists. Why? It may be that the steadfastness of blue blends well with the happiness of yellow. Such a color combination in a garden is sure to cheer anyone who visits it. I call it simply, Blue and Yellow.
Yellow flowers and foliage look their best—and glow the most—in the gentle rays of the morning or early evening sun. The sunlight at these times of day is on the red end of the light spectrum and enhances the warm colors: reds, oranges, and yellows. They shine in this kind of light.
Blue, on the other hand, is a cool, recessive or “shy” color. It needs the help of a stronger sun to be noticed. So blue blossoms stand out in the middle of the day when bright sun prevails. Together, the blend of blue and yellow ensures that a garden looks great at all times of day.
Blue and yellow flowers do well against a backdrop of shrubs such as holly, yews, Manhattan euonymus, or leatherleaf viburnums, among others. The dense green foliage is a perfect background for yellow’s cheerful countenance and blue’s soothing calmness. In addition, you can add a few pink flowers to the mix—they seem to bring out the blue flowers a bit more. A tip: plant both annual and perennial flowers to ensure that some flowers return each year. You can add long-blooming annuals in the spring.
A group of tall annual sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) stands proud against a clear blue sky at the end of summer. This is a very simple way to have the joyous combination of yellow contrasted with blue in a garden. By the way, blue mixed with yellow makes green. So green fits in with this color scheme perfectly!
The deep-blue flowers of the annual ‘Victoria Blue’ blue salvia (Salvia farinacea ‘Victoria Blue’) combine beautifully with the vibrant, yellow blooms of the ‘Golden Butterfly’ Marguerite daisy (Argyranthemum frutescens ‘Golden Butterfly’). The latter is a tender perennial that is grown as an annual in cooler climates. It loves sun and is a cool season favorite. Its open, daisy-like flowers attract butterflies. The ‘Golden Butterfly’ is a newer cultivar and tolerates heat—cool night temperatures are best. It provides a burst of color all summer long. You can pair it with blue pansies and flowering kale in a Blue and Yellow Garden in the fall. Perennial in zones 10–11.
A Blue and Yellow Garden need not be confined to flower colors. Here, a picket gate painted a deep blue makes a mysterious backdrop to the glowing yellow Darwin hybrid tulip, ‘Blushing Apeldoorn.’ I planted this variety of tulip for their extra-large flowers and bold blend of yellow, gold, and orange. They harmonize beautifully with the blue gate. Tulips bulbs need a cold period to establish roots, so they must be planted in the fall for spring flowers. Make sure to plant the tulip bulbs deep. This stops the plant from toppling over if you get a wet spring. It also allows you some room to plant atop them once their foliage has disappeared in early summer.
Here are “before” and “after” photos of a woodland garden. We cleared out a 5-foot-wide path and edged it with small rocks, as seen on the left. We then planted the perennial white ‘Deutschland’ astilbe (Astilbe japonica ‘Deutschland’) in a large group behind the rock border. Deer and rabbit resistant, this hardy astilbe blooms in profusion in early summer, which is earlier than other white astilbes. It is a tried-and-true perennial for woodland gardens, tolerating semi-shade and shade conditions. Its brilliant white plumes stand out in a moonlight garden as well. Note the light pink blossoms of ‘Peach Blossom’ astilbe (Astilbe japonica ‘Peach Blossom’) that are mixed in. Zones 4–9.
In spring, drifts of the native Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) light up the woodland floor in the Steinhardt Garden in Mount Kisco, New York. Pink buds turn to varying shades of bright blue as they mature in April–May. This is a wonderful spring perennial plant for a woodland garden. Virginia bluebells grow 18 inches tall and prefer sun in early spring, followed by shade later as the trees leaf out. It seeds itself in the woods, forming large drifts. It goes dormant by midsummer and will disappear, so plant it with summer-blooming shade perennials like bugbane (Actaea simplex) and ferns to fill in once the bluebells fade. You can visit this garden through the Open Days program hosted by The Garden Conservancy. Zones 3–8.