Palettes | A Renoir Palette

Rachelle Greayer’s book, Cultivating Garden Style, introduces the concept of using art for inspiration in your garden. I have been using the palette of Renoir's Dance at Bougival and the Texas spring prairie. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston   NAPLES YELLOW        CHROME YELLOW   VERMILLION   ALIZARIN CRIMSON   FRENCH ULTRMARINE BLUE   COBALT BLUE   VERIDIA N   EMERALD GREEN   LEAD WHITE Spring Prairie Palette My mother gave me a beautiful basket and I filled it with bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush so I can have the colors of the Texas spring prairie throughout the year in my home. In My Garden In my garden the blue larkspur and bluebonnets dance in the spring breeze and later in the season the reds of the hummingbird bush, salvias and turks cap dance with the hummingbirds. Another grouping is blackfoot daisy, dahlburg daisy, Denver dream miniature rose, and blue fescue. I am looking for a replacement for the blue fescue but otherwise this perennial rock garden does well in full sun. I am a big fan of miniature roses because they do not require as much attention as my other roses. Fall Garden My fall Renoir palette garden is for the hummingbirds. It includes hummingbird bush (Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii), pineapple sage, Texas sage, and turk's cap. I am looking for a good blue to include in this grouping. The photograph below is a fall blue and red combination of salvias in a bed for pollinators. Red | Texas Sage (Salvia coccinea) A Lovely Dance in the Tearoom  My daughter and I meet for lunch at the Dallas Arboretum Tearoom and enjoy the garden throughout the year. The room has a white adobe wash on the fireplace, white and blue on the tables and Chinese porcelain, and silver serving pieces along the walls in display cases. Clearly, the palette of the dancing pair. Japanese woodblock prints and the cobalt blue and white of the chinaware made a deep and lasting impression on the artists of The Impression Era.

April 2015 | Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

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Portuguese squil 

 Named Scillia peruviana in 1753 by Carolus Linnaeus

It is very difficult to get good photos of penstemon.

I have two varieties in front of a mass of Peter's Purple' monarda.

Penstemon 'Dark Towers' produces flowers about the same time as the monarda in May.

The 'Peter's Purple' monarda is more resistant to powdery mildew than the red varieties I have tried and with the lack of sunshine I am concerned we may have more powdery mildew to deal with than in past years. Even my resistant miniature roses are exhibiting signs of  mildew.

Border Bearded irises ~ "Cranberry"

Irises are a glorious flower. 

Iris 'Fringe Benefits'
I have not seen any photographs with a good true color for the 'Fringe Benefits' iris.

The photograph below (background iris) captures the closest color of what I would characterize as the 'Fringe Benefits' old world peach shade. 

Iris 'Change of Pace'

Louisiana Phlox

Mass plantings draw the butterfly to the nectar. On sunny days the scent is lovely.

Pink Evening Primrose wildflower

Natalia and the Bluebonnets

Join others at May Dreams Gardens

©  Grassroots Horticulture

2015

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