Friday, January 14, 2011

Color Essay Number 4: Beige


I know what you are thinking. Beige is a garden color? But bear with me. I know beige is not a considered a standard garden color. Most books on garden colors focus on bright flower colors, but beige does has a significant place in the color schemes of most gardens.

Beige is found in statuary, the weathered wood of backyard fences, in stonework and in garden paths of fine pea gravel. It is also the principal color of fall grasses and the garden as it drops off into its winter slumber.

Here are some of my favorite garden neutrals of past summer.

Locally grown garlic at the Ottawa Farmer's Market

Produce Baskets at Humber Nursery, Toronto.

Private garden, Mississauga Ontario. Stone and pebbles are beautiful garden neutrals

A robin takes a bath in a pool of water. Private garden, Mississauga Ontario. 

Sedum growing in a crevice of an old stump. Private garden, Georgetown Ontario.

Hey, I have to squeeze in one dog picture! This is Chelsea, one of my favorite garden tour guides. Chelsea resides at Butts Flower & Berry Farm in Rockwood, Ontario.

An angel in my neighbor's front garden. The vines are real, but the daises are not.

Miscanthus blowing in the wind, Hamilton, Ontario

The Miscanthus in detail

A wildflower gone to seed

A spent clematis in my back garden this fall

Seed pods on a winter's day

My Oakleaf hydrangea this past fall glowing the late day sun

Stay warm and have a great weekend, everyone!

24 comments:

  1. Beige is good and always correct! Great idea, not a color most people think about in the garden, but it really is all around us.

    Eileen

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very nice...I really love the idea of the sedum growing in the old stump...what a clever way to repurpose in the garden!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like your beige colour post! Those buckets are so cute.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful photo essay, those miscanthus look amazing

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very clever and original photo essay. Unknown to many people, garden bloggers are exceptionally talented people!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Enjoying your color essays! I always say that the ornamental grasses turn "tan." "Beige" sounds makes them sound so much more important :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beige is well represented by your finds and is so common in Fall and even now with the grasses. So many images I have taken recently, like yours' above are in beige and white. It is such a great color combo for relief after three seasons of bright saturated color. Good post.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Excellent photo essay on what you have convinced me is a very important color in our landscape.

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a great array of photographs! Beige really is an essential color in every garden albeit overlooked by most. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  10. A wonderful collection of photos and I particularly like the hen and chicks in the old stump! Thanks for visiting my site... Larry

    ReplyDelete
  11. Beige is a major player in my garden during the winter! We have some snow, but, never enough to keep the garden covered all winter. We southerns learn to love browns! By the way, your photos are quite lovely~gail

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh, oh... my! The garlic had me drooling. What perfect garlic. I struggle to find such beautiful garlic in rural New Brunswick.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Who says beige is not an attractive colour? Your photos showed otherwise and they are all lovely and interesting to look at!

    ReplyDelete
  14. You have just convinced me that beige is the most beautiful color in the world. I would have squeezed in that dog's image too.

    ReplyDelete
  15. There's quite a bit of beige in my garden aswell. It's a colour that you maybe don't appreciate until the wintertime. I think that hydrangeas are just as beautiful in beige as they are in colour.

    ReplyDelete
  16. While not my favorite color, my garden is full of it right now.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I like these color essays. I never would have thought to study the neutral shades in the garden, but there they are, beautiful in their unassuming background roles and really interesting all on their own as you have captured them!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hmmmm.... now you've got me thinking about how much beige I have in my gardens, though if you'd asked me before reading your post I would have said 'never!' to beige. I grow a lot of miscanthus - it's so windy up on my hill and I love the way it waves in the breeze.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Beige is not my favorite color, maybe because when I put some beige clothes on me, my face disappears. But what wonderful beiges you showed! Hydrangea, grasses... amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I love your colour essay. What wonderful pictures you take.

    ReplyDelete
  21. If someone had asked me if I thought beige was a beautiful garden color, I would have said no. After seeing your latest color essay, I have completely changed my mind!!! Thanks for the new perspective. :o)

    ReplyDelete
  22. As always your photo essay is beautiful. I love the grasses, leaves, and those lovely backlit hydrangea flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Great photos! You captured some exceptional moments. And I love the dog!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Stunning photographs Jennifer! I love these soft colors. Hydrangeas and grasses are so lovely right now especially in contrast with the white landscape. Lovely post!

    ReplyDelete

Apologies, comments are disabled at this time.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.