Plants Used in the Design Combo
Salvia ‘Victoria’, Yellow Flower Carpet Rose and in the background, Diascia 'Flirtation Orange' and not quite blooming Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’.
Blues, purples, yellows and oranges are my current favorite colors to play with in the garden. I love the blues, but they don’t show up at a distance. Combining them with their complementary colors brings them out more.
I always include ‘Victoria’ in my garden, because it blooms non-stop. I won the Rose in a drawing and was as delighted by the pale, buttery yellow color and how it just kept blooming. The soft, orange of the Diascia became an accent without overpowering.
Garden Site Conditions
This spot gets full sun all day long. It was a new flower bed that was amended with mushroom compost in the spring. The existing soil is very sandy and dries out quickly, but I was helped along this season by an unusual amount of rain. The plants seemed to love it.
I deadheaded the roses as needed. I never touched the salvia and tried shearing half the Diascia, but it didn’t seem to make a difference, so I let it be.
Lessons learned
- I liked the combination a lot and will definitely work with it again. It's hard to find such soft hues of yellow and orange.
- I’d like to try incorporating something with a larger leaf or flower, like a yellow hosta or a pale yellow coneflower, like "Sunrise', since it’s a little on the delicate side, since even the rose flowers are small.
