Kitchen Garden Forum

While I love most plants, and can appreciate ones I'm not so fond of in certain colour combinations, I really dislike some shades of orange. An alien Welsh poppy has crossed with some of my beautiful clear yellow ones and orange ones or yellow with touches of orange have started appearing. I really don't like them. Also the wishy washy orangey leaves of some heuchera are horrible.
And there is a rose that seems popular with flower arrangers that is the colour of dead flesh -ugh!

Are there any colours you don't like?

Orange is one of the natural colours for Meconopsis cambrica. I probably have more orange than pure yellow now. I admit it is a very violent shade of orange, but visitors much admire it

If you don't like it, pull it out as soon as you identify it and let the pure yellow ones self seed. In a year or so you should be back to yellow.

Generally I like all colours and mix them up in the garden. I find each shines dependent on the light so they all have their moment. If I had to really choose one, it is mauve flowers, not purple but that grey mauve. I have some self sown poppies in this colour and they really are lost regardless of the light.

I let them grow as there is always someone who comments on how nice they are.

Westi

I started off by removing the orange ones Alan, but last year didn't get round to it when struggling with my eyesight, so there are even more this year.

They aren't a nice vibrant orange like your photo. The one they crossed with was a double paler orange one in my neighbour's garden (not even sure if it is a true Welsh poppy), so disappointing compared to the zingy yellow originals.

I've spent this morning removing all the aquilegia seedlings that have crossed and are a pale mauve pink so they don't cross with the better ones. I originally planted some columbine types with the long spurs, then a nice purple and white variety called Magpie, then some grannies bonnet types and over the years they have all crossed to produce some lovely shapes and colours, but there dId seem to be far more weedy pale ones this yearso they've all been fettled out. I think I prefer stronger colours and contrasts rather than the watered down in between ones.

I'm fairly new to growing acqualegia and have been rather surprised wth the variations which can occur in the self seeded varieties. I suppose the excitement is in waiting to see what the new plants turn out like and then disappointment if they don't come true to type. There seem to be a lot of "dirty pink" shades . Foxgloves are another plant where where you never quite know what to expect in terms of colouring , and of course you do have a very long wait for them to bloom.

I!m a lover of purple. Over the years I,ve planted a nimber of pom pom alliums and it's surprising how many different shades of purple there are. I find orange a very difficult colour which I tend to avoid growing deliberately although every year I seem to get a number of self seeded nastursiums appear whixh I leave as they're in a border with no other summer colour when they're blooming so i can live with that. But having them mixed in with pinks and purples really doesn't work for me.

I'm drawn to rich purples too Primrose in both flowers and veg. I've just bought some new brassica seeds and only realised that three out of the four varieties are purple when I got them out to sow. I was thinking of ones I've enjoyed and used up so not thinking about colour. They are Kalibos cabbage, Redbor kale and the new Flower sprouts.

Another nice colour combination in veg is the yellowish green leek Jaune de Poitou with Bleu solaise or Musselburgh.

I also like the look of Bright lights Swiss chard but don't like the strong earthy flavour. The paler or white stemmed ones are more palatable I find.

PlumPudding - I've also growth Bright Lights chard. It's an attractive plant but like you, I've found its earthy flavour too strong to be really palatable. In the past I've grown Giant Fordhook chard but last year grew a different silver beet variety which has slightly smaller leaves.
The thing I dislike about the purple pom pom alliums is the way their leaves yellow and die back and look so unsightly. But I suppose the secret is to grow the amongst other plants where the base can't be seen.

I also grow the purple skinned kohl rabi. I recently saw some frilly purple leaved kohl rabi seedlings in a garden centre which I bought as an experiment. I asked the staff whether they produced green or purple skinned bulbs but nobody seemed to know - probably purple skinned I guess, so I will have to wait and see. There was no variety name listed (very annoying). Has anybody grown them before?

Strangely enough I like the earthy flavour of chard. I think it tasted like coffee lol

Ditto Dan Numbers - I like the taste of chard as well! I really love the colour of bright lights in mid winter, stands out & cheers you a bit when it freezing & drizzly. Mind I was brought up on the stuff as it is pretty hardy, hot or cold weather. Called Silver Beet in Aussie (& in those days the only variety), but still all chard mostly tagged as that still, and loads of recipes.

Westi

I think I like almost any colour except dead.

There is the bold in your face like this rockery Phlox



..or the rich primaries like this Paeony



..or even this double Gorse with its fantastic smell of Coconut



......to be continued

Even no colour can have an impact



Aquilegia has been mentioned, if you let them do what they like to do this can happen



..but I think my favourite is the Blue Meconopsis

Personally I like the wonderful reds of holly and asparagus berries, or the rich purple of most allium flowers