Hayefield

Posted on April 28, 2009July 1, 2012 by Nan Ondra — 17 Comments

Hello Yellow

Barely two weeks ago, the main garden color around here was white. But as the weather got milder and then suddenly turned scorching, new foliage started emerging, and color theme has shifted to some serious chartreuse. Every day, I find new leaves to admire, so I’ve been having trouble deciding when to stop taking pictures and put some of these beauties together for a gallery of spring golds. Finally, here are some highlights of the foliage action here at Hayefield. Continue reading Hello Yellow

Posted on March 1, 2008January 6, 2011 by Nan Ondra — 12 Comments

Not-So-Mellow Yellow

Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra

In The Softer Side of Yellow, I trotted out some images of what I thought were relatively tasteful combinations of yellow with green, yellow with yellow, and yellow with blue. As I was choosing those pictures, I also found some combinations that showed a bit more zip, so I figured I’d put those in a separate group. This combination, featuring ‘Screaming Yellow’ false indigo (Baptisia sphaerocarpa) could have gone either way: Paired with the ‘Walker’s Low’ catmint (Nepeta), the effect is rather soft, but the intense purple-blue of the ‘Caradonna’ salvia in the back saves it from being too sweet. Can you imagine this grouping without the catmint? That would definitely be zippy.

Continue reading Not-So-Mellow Yellow

Posted on February 28, 2008January 6, 2011 by Nan Ondra — 14 Comments

The Softer Side of Yellow

Of all the color combinations in my garden, yellow with green is one of my favorites. Built around a long row of golden elderberry (Sambucus nigra ‘Aurea’), the curved borders that evolved along my driveway turned out to be a great place indulge in all sorts of yellow flowers and foliage. It wasn’t until months later, when I took the picture at the top of this post, that I realized the excellent color echo of the road sign in the background. The strong yellow of the ‘Zagreb’ coreopsis in the foreground is almost a perfect match, though I think rudbeckias would be even better.

Continue reading The Softer Side of Yellow