How hung up o you get about colour?

[NotAnotherNewNappy]

I am trying to give our garden a cottage design feel and have possibly been reading too much about colour wheels and design schemes.

I wanted a cool colour palette (mainly pinks, whites & blues) but for various reasons I seem to have ended up with some pink but lots of purples, blues, and oranges... It's the orange I'm worried about, am I over thinking it?

I don't get too hung up on colour, but tend not to buy orangey plants as I'm not usually fond of them anyway- hence my garden is just pinks, blues, purples and whites. I did buy some beautiful marigolds last year, but put them in my front garden, which is where stuff that doesn't 'go' gets put! Nature tends to put a spoke in things by self seeding all sorts, and then I let it be.
Orange and purple can be a great combination, very zingy.
Maybe just go for all-over-colourful, cottage gardens can be a real mix.

www.crocus.co.uk/features/_/what's-your-style/cottage-garden/articleid.999/ all kinds of colours.

I am a bit, for some reason I want only white flowers with maybe the odd blue/lilac. Unfortunately it hasn't worked out like that as DH couldn't wait the ten years it would take to fill the boarders on our budget and spent £10 on a groupon voucher that filled the boarders with every colour in the rainbow...sigh

I am an if i like it i grow it gardner and so i dont worry about colour clash, I planted some orange Gazania in front of a red climbing rose today.

I don't know why it didn't occur to me that I could just group the oranges together, one where they on't clash with the pinks Thank you linspins, I think you have solved my dilemma.

I sympathise with your DH Cairol, I had tesco vouchers to spend on T&M so managed to get 111 plants for only £6 of 'real' money. The problem was that the mixes I liked came with the odd orange plant thrown in.

Red & orange will look fab cantspell, carol Klein's hot borders and all that. It's red, orange and then some blue and pink that starts me twitching....

Looking at main border this morning, I see that my plan of mauve/silver/pink at one end and orange/yellow at the other has been accidentally improved by blues in the middle (space for tall ones here).

You could soften the effect of the orange with green plants such as alchemilla mollis, and grasses in between, and soft frothy white plants.

Orange and purple can indeed be gorgeous, but I think would work best with them if it was a hot cerisey sort of pink, rather than a pastel. But it is true that the greenery if the foliage will tone it all down and, as funny person suggests, things like Alchemilla mollis will also make it look less frantic.

And yes, I am very picky about colours and regularly move or dump things that turn out to be the wrong colour.

I think pink would work best with them ....

One of the top designers talked about having different colours of the same subspecies 'like a scarf' which is also a good idea

*Maud if you move stuff doesn't it kill the plants?

I don't think I could bear to move anything that was growing well, I couldn't stand the guilt if I killed it....

Some things don't take well to being moved (hellebore, for example). But a lot of things do; many things actually benefit from a bit of messing about. They think you are attacking them and respond with lots of flowers or growth.

I recently mauled loads of perennials in my garden trying to eradicate vetch and couch grass from a border/rockery. All have sent up shoots perfectly well. Today I dug up a tiny azalea that was cowering under a hebe/aquilegeia (we bought this house only recently) and shifted it over in the border. I may have killed it but hopefully not.

Anyway, I quite like an eclectic look; as long as there isn't too much colour overall.

I like things quite eclectic too, you could look at Sarah Raven catalogue for ideas of what goes together well, she had lovely orange flowers with cerinthe (purple) looked great

Funnyperson - I killed an echinops bannaticus by moving it in high summer, but usually I bide my time, move things when not in flower and all is well.

Our front garden has lots of colourful perennials, people stop and look at it which is nice of them. They say how cottagey it looks, although the house isn't a cottage. I don't have much orange, but lots of pink, yellow, blue, purple. Also lots of alchemilla mollis between other things - it grows like a weed here, anyway. A fair amount of white, too.

I think keeping non-plants to a simple minimum is important if you want a cottage look. A couple of pots by the door and perhaps a birdbath, otherwise it can look a bit contrived. Some simple topiary is good and authentic if you have the space and patience, especially with yew.

Christopher Lloyd's book Colour for Adventurous Gardeners is very good, it might give you confidence about combinations you're not sure of. Your library may well have a copy.

I'm always shifting things around, perennials don't usually mind. Even in the summer - just pour lots of water over them, perhaps pop a large flowerpot over them to protect from hot sun or wind on the first day or so, then they'll go on happily.

I'm forever moving stuff about - dh's heart sinks when he hears me say "I think we need to move that..."

I'm quite into different colours for different areas of the garden. One if my favourite beds is yellow/lime green, white and purple. I have a hot bed with oranges, red and burgundy. The shady bit is white and green, lots of interesting foliage.

Front garden is one half pink and burgundy, the other white, purple and hot pink.

Thank you, you are all giving me lots more confidence to attempt something more exciting with colour than stick to one palette for the whole garden.

I have a clematis on the move at the moment. It's a 'baron vile something' (big pink/lilac flowers). I planted it in deepest shade last spring and was certain it had died until I began preparing for the epic fence. It's currently in a pot waiting to go into my new sunny pink border, with the peonies and ground cover roses. It already looks much happier, fingers crossed it makes it to its new home.

Silver - meant to say, I've ordered the Sarah raven catalogue, thanks