Nellie Neal - The Nonstop Color Garden

First published in 2014 by Cool Springs Press, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc., 400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

2014 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

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Digital edition: 978-1-62788-553-9
Softcover edition: 978-1-59186-605-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Neal, Nellie.

The nonstop color garden : design flowering landscapes and gardens for year-round enjoyment / Nellie Neal.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-59186-605-3 (sc)

1. Flower gardening. 2. Gardens--Design. I. Title.

SB404.9.N43 2015

635.9--dc23

2014020695

Acquisitions Editor: Billie Brownell

Project Manager: Madeleine Vasaly

Design Manager: Brad Springer

Cover Designer: Mary Rohl

Layout Designer: Diana Boger

Illustrator: Chandler OLeary

On the front cover: iStockPhoto.com/BasieB

On the title page (from left): Richard Shiell, courtesy Monrovia; freya-photographer/Shutterstock; Inomoto/Shutterstock; George Weigel; Andre Viette; Liz Ball

Design flowering landscapes and gardens for year-round enjoyment

Nellie Neal

To my oldest friend, the dear Kathy Greer, and my brilliant daughter, LauraClaire, for making me want to be a better person. As always, to Dave.

EVERY AUTHOR WORTH HER SALT knows that each book can only be as good as those who taught her. The lessons of color and its emotional power came to me first from my grandmother, the seamstress and tailor, and my mother, the runway model. Mrs. Oliver taught me to see in line and form and to paint with understanding. She showed me the world of classic design through her voluminous postcard collection. I was transformed by studying under Dr. Robert Reich, for whom the landscape architecture school at Louisiana State University is named. He introduced me to the work of Garrett Eckbo and to the reality of personal expression through garden design. These gurus and the hundreds of people who have invited me into their gardens have given me an invaluable education and inspiration. It has been my privilege to meet and work with amazing landscape architects, professionals who were kind enough to share notes with me and invite me to consult on plants. They are expected to be magicians, to effortlessly birth the clients wildest dreams, and more often than not, they succeed. My sincerest thanks to my editors, Billie Brownell and Madeleine Vasaly, and to their team at Quarto Publishing Group USA.

A neat green carpet lawn and a classic brick hardscape set the stage for this charming border. It displays brilliant use of color to create form within closely related shades using plants that include upright delphiniums in mauve, lilac, and deep blue-purple; rosy flowering onion orbs; pale pink climbing roses; and purple salvia.

WHEN YOU WALK INTO a beautiful garden, what do you notice first? The temperature drop in a shady grove on a summer day, a fountains gurgle, berried hedges on a snowy day, the abundance of spring flowers? Yes, but time and again the colors in the garden are what you remember long after because they set the mood for everything else. The power of plants to focus attention and set moods with their colors cannot be understated, but not to be left out, structures and hardscape gain attention here, too. Whether they are meant to fade into the scene or create a focal point, color defines their roles: a wooden shed is a utilitarian joy but a can of paint transforms it into a year-round garden destination. Your feet are down the path to it in a heartbeat, drawn to its color. When you smile to see the first flowering quince (Chaenomeles) of spring or thrill as maples (Acer) turn in autumn, each time you feel like celebrating lilacs (Syringa) or beautyberry (Callicarpa), its their colors that touch your heart. This book will put them close at hand.

All the colors in the organic crayon box are featured here with suggestions for plants in every category to enrich the colors throughout your garden every month of the year. Heres a look at what else youll find in The Nonstop Color Garden.

About chapter 1

MUCH OF GARDEN DESIGN is first a broad vision, a concept for coloring space across the seasons. To be successful, the plan exploits that big idea until every detail carries the desired theme. In the best of them, a rewarding design starts as a sparkle in ones eye and becomes tangible for all to enjoy. Landscape architects and garden designers see a year full of color, texture, line, and much more. They translate their visions into plants and hardscape in myriad different ways as you will see in the design inspiration gallery. Gardeners like to be inspired and sometimes can be downright copycats, with good reason. Its perfectly acceptable to take good ideas home, even take photos, and then make them your own.

When you explore a pleasing design, the math and geometry may be complex or minimalist, yet its always coherent in its own way. The plants and colors fit together; their placement and hue has an inherent sense of rightness. You can find fabulous color everywhere, but the moods and styles of botanic gardens and residential landscapes offer wildly diverse possibilities for your interpretation.

This chapter offers excellent examples of public and private gardens in the lower forty-eight US states, from coast to coast and north to south in all seasons. The design inspiration gallery will charm, amuse, and show you how design elements work together with color to make strong statements in large and small spaces. These gardens have the wow factor, the joyful, timeless sense of place that each person seeks and too few find whether the project is a blank slate or the redesign of an existing garden. Here are plenty of classic and modern ideas to draw on for inspiration in your personal process to create colorful gardens from the top down, year round. An old adage says that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so begin with a tour through some amazing gardens to find your kindred spirits.