Over the last couple of years I’ve come to release that people react very differently to colour, whether that’s in clothes, interior decor or plants. One person’s calm and cooling pastels is another’s boring combo; and one person’s vibrant is another’s brash!

I actually think that both can be nice, but I personally just love vibrant, saturated colours, they just give me a positive boost of energy. I want to share with you some plant and colour combos I love from my vibrant border (7M x 1.5-2M, southwest facing but with some shade, clay soil).

Geum combos and grasses

Standing at the bottom of the border looking up, you see a sea of orange. Geum ‘Tempest Scarlet’ is a very shouty loud deep orange, I find it works well against the lime green leaves of Sesleria autumnalis, moor grass, a super evergreen grass.

Alliums with Geums

A classic combo that works for the colour contrast and the difference in shape. Planting loads of Alliums through the border adds punctuation and brings the scheme together.

Cooling blues and mauves

As we move higher up the border the colour temperature cools slightly as mauves and blues tone down the orange Geums. Great plants for this are Erysimum ‘Bowles’ Mauve’, Aquilegia vulgaris and Aconitum napellus (the very poisonous but seductive monkshood!).

So what do you think, are you a fan of vibrant colours or do you prefer things cooler and calmer?