My favorite color is yellow and my favorite flower is the sunflower. From this you can probably see that yellow features prominently in my garden. Yellow combinations of flowers set off other colors perfectly. They reflect the bright glow of the sun and bring cheer to the landscape. As an added bonus, some of the best companion plants bloom in this exuberant hue. Yellow is a color that occurs naturally in the garden via dandelions, but there are much more exciting examples of this cheery hue.
Fond Memories
Yellow hues were always my favorite in my Crayola box. I would spend hours decorating a piece of construction paper with every variation of the canary tone. As I grew up, I experimented with wearing yellow, to disastrous results. Yellow on me makes me look jaundiced and I quickly learned to avoid wearing the color. But my garden is a different story.
Garden Sunshine Colors
Yellow is featured in my outdoor cushions, shade sails, and of course, my flower beds. Yellow plants scream summer. The color is such a pleasant and joyful tone. From the first of spring to the end of the season, my garden is awash in golden glory. Everything from gold, to amber, to saffron is represented on the yellow color spectrum.
For me, the first sight of the hue gladdens my heart and quickens my garden pulse. The first plants are crocus, followed by glorious clusters of daffodils, and then the golden tulips. Sweet little pansies with their funny faces dot every bed. Elegant golden iris raises their bearded heads. These early yellow plants signal the return of warm weather and the soon-to-be kiss of summer sun.
Yellow Everywhere
As the season warms, I can count on my yarrow, lilies, sedum, and more, to continue the color parade. Tickseed bounces around merrily, while the daylilies perform their two-hour dance of beauty. The Rudbekia produces tall stands of cheery gold. Mullein rosettes begin to form their corn-like yellow flowers, popping new blooms every few days as the flowering advances.
In the vegetable garden, I use several companion plants as decoys and insect repellents. They also have herbal properties. I intersperse Calendula, Marigold, Nasturtium, and other flowering specimens amongst my veggies. Soon the bright orange- yellow flowers of the squash, cucumbers, and melons appear, bringing even more of the happy hue to the garden. These are followed by beans and other varieties of produce in yellow tones.
Autumn Yellows
Even the end of the summer season brings yellow combinations. There are numerous yellow Chrysanthemums that adorn the fall landscape. Aptly named, goldenrod gladdens a declining garden. The golden stalks of corn are just finishing their work and the orange-yellow pumpkins are almost ready to harvest.
Yellow is not only the harbinger of summer, but its very essence. It’s reflected in our summer sunsets, and our warm season fruits and vegetables. It paints the mind with the joys of the growing season and the harvests to come.
