Color Essay Number 6: Mauve

A bee visits the Allium in my garden

The Circle garden at the back of our yard

In my spring garden, the color mauve first appears in brightly colored tulips. A few weeks later, alliums bulbs send their deep mauve fireworks skyward. Lilacs and shade loving Meadow Rue then pick up and wave a mauve color banner, as the alliums begin to set seed.

Here in my garden and elsewhere as noted, are some of the prettiest mauve flowers that my husband and I photographed last summer. They run roughly in order of bloom time, from spring to fall. 

Lilac from my garden

Meadow rue in my garden (A great plant for moist shade)

Thyme at Lucy Maud Montgomery Garden, Norval Ontario.

A delicately colored delphinium at Humber Nursery in Toronto.

A mauve clematis in my garden 

There are so many beautiful clematis on the market these days, aren't there? I am a great one at shopping for end of the season bargains and this clematis is one such purchase. I planted it long before I ever dreamed of blogging and so I am sorry, but I do not know its name. 

Thistle (Centaurea hypoleuca ' John Coutts')

New to my garden is this Thistle. I planted it in my front garden last summer, but after seeing it in all its abundant splendor at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, I now know that it needs way more space than I alloted it. In the early spring, I think I will definitely have to move it.

Apart from the mauve phlox in my garden, this is probably my favorite mauve flower of the past summer (see below). My picture does not do it justice, but don't let it put you off considering it for your garden. It is very undemanding and blooms for a long period of time. The flower is basically a hollyhock in miniature.

False Mallow 'Party Girl' (Sidalcea) It will self-seed, but is not invasive.

On my "most wanted" list is a Foxglove. (This one pictured, Humber Nursery, Toronto)

Cosmos in a schoolyard in Mississauga, Ontario

Cosmos are great, easy to grow annuals and I plan to add more to my garden next year. I must confess that I usually cheat and buy young seedlings, rather than start my own plants from seeds. ( If I were to plant the seeds in the garden directly, I would never see flowers before the cold of fall set in. Our growing season here is just too short.)

Obedient Flower ( warning: some varieties are invasive)

Laura Bright Eyes in my front garden. Phlox is always described as tolerating shade, but I find that it does not perform nearly as well in shade.

Pale Mauve Sedum at Edwards Garden, Toronto

I have a small collection of sedums, including this pale mauve variety above. (My clump is more modest than this lovely one at Edwards Gardens in Toronto. I was so impressed with the display of sedums there, that I am determined to add to my own collection next summer.)

Edwards Gardens, Toronto

A final bit of mauve from the fall season to end with: An ornamental cabbage with a mauve heart.

Have a great weekend!