Our landscapes are influenced by contemporary color trends. The Color Marketing Group is very influential in deciding what color palettes we’ll see. They survey contemporary trends and come up with a national forecast of colors each year. These colors will then appear in various products, including containers, and other items associated with gardens.

A few years ago chartreuse plants were very popular. Now, black ones are in the spotlight as well.

Blue continues to be a predominant color for the landscape. There is any number of blues from which you can choose. These are the blue-black we see in the summer sky, the atmospheric blue, the blue that we see in a forget-me-not, and the blue-green of water.

Blue is an interesting color because of its history. Since ancient times this color has been very symbolic for its power to keep away the “evil eye.” This is one reason that blue is seen in architecture. It’s often used in buildings in parts of Spain, Greece, Egypt, Morocco, and in Arab countries.

Blue can be found in numerous garden plants. One of the most memorable is the blue seen in the delphinium and the blue-green color of Kentucky blue grass. Blue is also seen in the blue fescue and in some of the other new ornamental grasses that are becoming very popular.

Annuals with blue flowers include ageratums and cornflowers, while blue-flowering perennials include bulbs like irises and agapanthus and perennials, such as monkshood.

Though blue may be the dominant color, the color experts expect that pinks and browns will also be very popular.

The names of the colors can be intriguing, and tend to change from year to year. Sometimes they’re named for fruits, herbs, or vegetables, such as sage green.

Color is one way we can achieve unity between the indoors and outdoors landscape.
This is easy enough to accomplish if you have a patio, deck, or porch.

Use the same color for these as you do in adjacent rooms, such as the sunroom or kitchen. For example, the color you choose could be used outdoors in flowers, pots, garden furniture, or other garden accents.

Color-conscious gardeners may want to decorate their gardens with the latest trendy colors.