Uplifting Color Combinations for Your Outdoor Space

For many of us, our gardens are a refuge from the rest of our busy lives. Whether it's smelling the roses, putting our hands in the soil, or watching the pollinators do their job, we all get something out of gardening. Color also plays a significant part in the satisfaction we get out of gardens, and creating beautiful landscape color combinations is part of the fun. Studies indicate that the colors we surround ourselves with influence our emotions, so here are a few uplifting landscape color combinations which use Water-Wise plants from Roger's Gardens to add a little more joy to your favorite space.

White & Yellow

For those who want their garden to evoke a sense of playfulness, youthfulness, and optimism, try incorporating white and yellow colors into your landscape design. White is known for its associations with vitality and clarity. When used in a landscape, it creates the perfect backdrop for other colors to shine through—which yellow does with ease. Yellow conjures feelings of optimism and happiness, as anyone who's seen a bouquet of sunflowers can attest.

To take advantage of these colors in your landscape, consider training fragrant Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) up a wall and planting Acorus 'Ogon' at the base to fill out a meadow or hedge. The bright white flowers of jasmine are contrasted perfectly by its dark foliage, and the cheerful, brilliant yellow grass-like plant below will help set off this gorgeous display. Consider adding a Lemon Tree to provide contrast in texture and for the bright leaves–and of course, the delicious yellow fruit! What isn't there to be happy about?

Pink & Purple

If you'd like your garden to call forth feelings of prosperity, sophistication, and romance, look no further than pink and purple for your landscape palette! Romance, love, and gentleness are obvious associations with pink, and there are countless hues of the color and varieties of plants to explore. Purple contributes by conveying a sense of sophistication and prosperity, making it the perfect addition to a lush and whimsical landscape.

'Sizzling Pink' Fringe Flower features the best of both worlds, with rich purple foliage and explosions of pink flowers. This plant works excellently in a hedge and would set the stage effortlessly for a 'Pink Surprise' Bougainvillea backdrop in a sunny area of your garden. As a bonus, both of these varieties bloom nearly year-round in Orange County! If your garden is in a bit more shade, swap the bougainvillea for an 'Apple Blossom' Camellia. The fringe flower will be happy in either partial shade or sun.

Blue & Silver

Your landscape is the perfect place to feel serene and at ease, and a combination of blue and silver perfectly fits the bill. Silver is associated with modernity and innovation, providing a clean slate for blue's feelings of calmness and quiet wisdom to radiate throughout your outdoor space. Just imagine stepping into your garden and feeling an immediate emotional reset.

Blue and silver landscapes are modern and pristine but nonetheless inviting. Consider dotting a meadow of Liriope spicata ‘Silver Dragon' with tall and structural Blue Arrow Juniper trees. For richer pops of bright blue, fill in gaps and pathway edges with the lovely ground cover Evolvulus 'Blue My Mind'. Its blue flowers will twinkle through the silver Liriope, evoking wisdom and clarity.

There are so many fun and rewarding ways to play with color, and your garden is an excellent place to begin. Color carries many meanings beyond its inherent beauty, making it the perfect way to infuse your outdoor space with that little extra bit of character . Whether you want your landscape to be playful, serene, or romantic, Roger's Gardens carries the plants you need to explore California landscape color combinations.

For more information, view: How to Add Summer Color to Your Garden with Planters, How to Add Fall Color to Your Existing Landscape, and How to Design Colorful Plant Containers