Purple In The Gardens…Part 2 Landscaping The Yard
Our backyard has needed a makeover before the time of Noah and the flood. Okay, probably not that long. But to these homeowners it has seemed like biblical proportion. I am a lover of the color purple, I think it comes from being born in February, with my birthstone… the amethyst. So with that in mind, I designed the gardens with a splash of purple. Both my husband and I adore gardens in the shape of a kidney, so we decided to use this design in the backyard. Purple-leaf plants have become a huge trend in garden design. They offer a varied and versatile palette of trees, shrubs, and ornamental grasses, as well as perennials, annuals, and ground covers. Incorporating purple-foliage plants into borders and backgrounds create a powerful sense of drama. When it comes to design…more drama…happy mama. In the next four photos, you will see some of the variety of plants we used.
Setcreasea – purple queen
Plectranthus – mona lavender
Purple Fountain Grass – rubrum – pennisetum setaceum
Aztec Grass – liriope ophiopagan muscari
In summary, I learned so much about this color in the gardens after some research.
Purple in the garden
- Purple is considered a cool color in landscape design. Its appearance has a calming effect in a garden.
- Purple plants visually recede in a garden, helping to make a small space feel larger.
- Purple’s complimentary color in the garden is yellow. (Guess what I need now?)
- Purple is a hot color in garden design right now.
So would you use purple in YOUR garden?
I hope this day brings you some sunshine.
Laurie
XXOO
ps If you are interested in seeing Part 1, the front yard design click on
We Sold Our Yard On Ebay…
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Pride in Photos 
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Wow. What a lovely yard!
I must confess to howling out loud at your e-bay sale of your front yard!
Now THAT was incredibly hilarious!
What a good sport you are.
Love your attitude.
Thanks for sharing this loveliness with us.
A+
Lovely colours Lauri We are covered in snow at the moments but I can see snowdrops…
I’m wearing purple as I write this. I do love all shades of mauve and purple and was born in February. The only thing that sort of negates your theory is that my mother also loved purple and she was born in August 🙂 I know next to nothing about gardening but really enjoyed the two posts (I checked out the link to Part 1). A heartening story of two people who love beauty, can laugh when that is the best approach, and work like crazy when that is what it takes. Congrats to both you and your hubby on an absolutely wonderful garden!
the lavender is great looking. I’ve always liked purple and green together! {:-Deb
Nice job Laurie♫♪ Have a great week-end♥
I love purple anyhow -i have lots of purple clothes too. Do you know (it’s called here) Wandering Jew -very purplish with a dark red cast on one side.
You did bring sunshine to me today. Thank you! My favourite colour is purple and if I had a garden it would be full of purple flowers. 🙂
Good work ! Looks beautiful !
All I have are a couple of flower boxes on our balcony rail as we live in a condo, but I would totally use purple! I planted some tri-colored purple pansies last year and I loved them.
I like the plectranthus…but are you sure that isn’t the name of a dinosaur? 🙂
Now that is funny! No that is its name☺
thanks for sharing your garden.
Interesting. I have a few purple plants in my garden beds. They make me happy! Great shots.
Que belo canteiro…a composição de cores é encantadora. Um abraço!
Beautiful series!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
My three-year-old’s favorite color is purple. She would love your backyard—and I do, too!
My backyard needs a makeover too. We’ve been in this house for 32 years and started back there with very little except a pear tree. I planted and pruned and the yard took off. It’s now very shady and rather overgrown. The grass I had planted has pretty much all died out due to that shade so I’m on the lookout for some other type of ground cover.
I love that purple grass. So pretty.
I really like Purple in the garden and you’ve shown some really unique ways to add it in!
Purple in the garden always looks so nice with green. I loved the grasses that had a purple or red hue to their seeds as they wave in the wind. Just beautiful in bouquets as well!
How are you doing? I nominated you for the beautiful blogger award http://rhema3one7.wordpress.com/?p=224&preview=true
This is very kind of you. You have a magical way with words. Blessings and thank you very much!
Sweet! Share you love of purple.
Oh yes.. I love purple in a yard. I have some purple in my yard as well. Purple lantana and That Purple queen that you have. My lantana has gone dormant for the winter and we had a hard freeze and it killed my Purple queen. It is three years old. I guess she didn’t like that cold weather. Very unusual for us to get that cold here in the desert. But you can be sure I will be planting more in the spring.
Your yard looks beautiful.
Hugs~
Purple plants tend to be hardier than some too. I used to have Delphinium, Monkshood and Iris’s in many purple/lavender hues. Everything co-ordinates with purple it seems. Add orange or pink or white or red….it’s all good.
never even thought of purple…i am still in the evergreen only stage!!!
The purple fountain grass is lovely!!!
Love your choice of plants!
Thanks Elizabeth!!!
Beautiful, love the purple!!
Absolutely would have purple in my garden…. We have just started ‘outdoor decoration’ in a landscape that was devoid of even one plant… I have planted a couple of Chinese Tallows out front, and watching them grow before my eyes… outstanding…! The back yard now has a Tibouchina and a number of ‘hedging’ plants whose ‘new leaves’ are reddish purple…
Purple is definitely on the horizon also in the form of grasses….! 😉
Bring on the purple, I say….
We don’t have any at this house, but I’ve had all of those in the past. Love purple!
Lovely! Congrats! ;;)
I love that little island in your yard! I might put one in mine this year. Very creative and decorative:)
Thank you SO much! If you look real closely in the first photo in the distance, you can see two in our backyard.
I would absolutely use purple in the garden. I always say I’m going to do our yard…maybe this Spring will be the year.
I hope this post inspires you a little bit Rosey.
Can’t help thinking of that great Alice Walker quote: “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” Love purple too. I think we both have birthdays in February too!
Sherry, I didn’t know that quote! Wish I could of used that in my post. You are such a smart girl!
Not smart; just know a lot of quotes! 😉
I like kidney shaped flowerbeds too: And I love using purple in the garden! Thanks for teaching us why purple works… now I understand why I like it so much. 🙂
Blessings ~ Wendy
Now we have two more things in common.
I would definitely use purple seeing as it is my favourite colour 🙂
Another purple friend! Yipee!
More purple to the people!
You made me smile…thanks.
I used to love to garden and see more of it in my near future. Purple was always a prominent color in my flower beds.
Oh I love purple and actually have tons of the Purple Queen in my back yard. It’s just grows like crazy around here, especially flourishing in the warmer months. 😀
Loving the purple! So bold and beautiful.
I love purple and yellow! Little violets and pansies come to mind, and then the lavendar fields. Going to a wedding this summer that will be purple and yellow and I’m hosting a shower for the bride. Been busy pinning lots of purple and yellow ideas!
Yes, I definately will be adding a little yellow to it this winter. You are going to have a blast hosting the shower. Pinterest will be your best friend.
I always use purple! I also use pink, white and yellow.
Lovely gardens and so nice to see from wintry New England ~
(A Creative Harbor) on blogger ^_^
I like the color, my wife adores the color! Certainly would use it if we had real weather here… 🙂
I love purple, so I would put it my yard. But more importantly, since you love it, I’m glad it is in your yard 🙂
I have always been a fan of purple in gardens! Looks beautiful!
I love purple in my gardens too. It’s beautiful with greens, yellows and oranges especially, I think.
Love the pictures!
I love purple and yellow in the gardens. I have tried and tried to grow that Purple Queen but to no avail. Not sure what the problem is. It’s so beautiful, I will try again 🙂