Plant Combinations Green Music Garden is named because of this designer's notion that garden-making is a lot like musical composition. Multiple "performers" must collaborate to achieve a beautiful outdoor space. "Composing" with flower color, bloom time, leaf color & texture, shape, size, etc.— these are the plant instruments of the garden designer. Producing pleasing plant combinations is like soloing on the world's most playful instrument. |
 Stained Glass & Tulips
Pink flowering Lorapetalum randomly flowers "in concert" with 'Claudia' Tulips, coordinating with a repurposed stained glass backdrop. |
 Hostas & Tulips
Chairs & variegated Hosta are a yellow "theme-and-variation," but pink & purple Tulips are the spring divas. |
 Deck Planter
Cool colored and fuzzy 'Big Ears' Lamb's Ear is a textural counterpoint to golden-leaf Campanula 'Dixon Gold' & Lysimachia 'Aurea,' Geranium, & Alyssum. |
 Deck Trellis
Nothing says "Rite of Spring" like a riot of Clematis 'Apple Blossom' set off by a background of dark evergreens. |
 Rock Garden
Mounding shapes play "in tune," held together through repetition of cool-green-fuzzy & warm-green-glossy textures. Pink flowering Lorapetalum (center) and blue Lithodora (bottom right) add interest. |
 Rock Garden Detail
Next up to "solo" in the spotlight is the deep pink Rhododendron 'Anah Kruschke.' |
 Rock Garden
Later in May, these "accompanists" join in: pink Scented Geranium, purple flowering Ajuga 'Black Scallop,' and white-variegated Iris. The Carex 'Evergold' (above), Golden Oregano (right), Cryptomeria 'Little Diamond' (bottom), & Leucothoe 'Rainbow' (left) are evergreen. |
 Rock Garden Iris
Pink & purple flowers blooming at the same moment perform a color "symphony." |
 Creation Garden
The "orchestra pit" of the Creation Garden is where only tough shade-tolerant plants thrive: Podophyllum, Beesia, Asarum, & Arisaema. |
 Garden Walk
Blending swaths of blue-green & yellow-green evergreens is the "key" to this garden's year-round appeal. |
 Garden Walk Fall Color
The 'Bloodgood' Japanese Maple creates an ephemeral autumn "masterpiece," a trio with Lamium 'Silver Beacon' & Brunnera 'Jack Frost.' |
 "Serendipity" Welcome Garden
Think of this reflective sphere as the garden "soloist." If you cover it with your hand, you will realize how important a focal point can be. |
 "Taming a Slope" Welcome Garden
Winter can be dreary enough without a lack of year-round foliage. Instead of a January "dirge," these colorful grasses & evergreens give a noteworthy performance. |