Last week, I took a late afternoon walk on Ponto Beach in Carlsbad. My hope was to possibly see the Artemis ll landing in San Diego. The astronauts were on their way to splashdown.
The sky began to darken, the white clouds turned a dark gray. Suddenly the ocean turned from bright blue to the darkest charcoal color. I wondered if the landing in the gray waters of San Diego would remind the Artemis ll astronauts of their trip to the far side of the moon.
According to BBC News: “Artemis II astronauts experienced approximately 40 to 54 minutes of total darkness and communication silence on April 6, 2026, when the Orion spacecraft passed behind the far side of the moon. During this time, they were further from Earth than any humans in history, observing the dimly lit, rarely seen lunar far side of the moon.”
What is color in the garden?
The activities in space during the past week, have made me think about what would life be like to live in darkness, or to go through our day without color.
As landscape designer Jan Johnsen wrote in his book, “Gardentopia”:
“Nothing affects us as strongly as color in the garden. It is the first thing we notice when we enter a space. Yellow catches the eye, blue revitalizes, and green soothes. As Marc Chagall noted, these sensations are based on the vibration or light frequency in the color. Once you know this, you can use color in a landscape to set a mood.
“Our response to color outdoors is greatly dependent on the quality of available sunlight. For example, in early spring when the light is soft, many people gravitate to pastel colors. But as the year progresses, and the sun becomes stronger and higher in the sky, the pastel colors wash out in the summer light and yellows and oranges become glorious.”
What is your color palette?
When planning your springtime flower garden, think carefully about your color choices. Do you want to create a serene color palette by choosing all white flowers that glow at night? White astilbe, Japanese anemone planted under white dogwood would glitter at night.
Do we want to wake up in the morning to sit in our chair placed carefully in an orchestrated bed of green ferns and hosta, shaded by a tall evergreen?
Or do you need a pick-me-up in the afternoon from your orchestrated front yard humming with a blue and yellow “Monet” garden?
My favorite combinations
I have learned a great deal about color by studying some of the master painters who were also gardeners. Elizabeth Murray, who is a painter, gardener and writer, said in her book, “Monet’s Passion,” that Monet’s Grande Allée was filled with a combination of blue iris, delphinium and yellow nasturtium, which spilled onto the path of his Giverny garden in France.
The ideal front yard
If I had unlimited funds and a large front yard, I would fill the bed in front of the house with bright blues and yellows. I would place a long line of perennial delphiniums (deep blue and purple) against the wall of the house, adding Dutch blue iris in the middle ground to provide the backdrop for brilliant yellow nasturtium flooding the foreground.
Identify what you like and don’t like
When choosing a color palette for your front yard or patio, it is sometimes easiest to discern what you don’t like. There is no point in buying or even inheriting plants that do not fit with your personal taste.
The color pink is my favorite example. I absolutely hate pink! I have purchased magenta petunias, rose begonias, and even a fuchsia or two in my day, but pink geraniums, pink phlox or creeping pink thyme are off my list of favorites.
Keep that “baby pink” color for a baby shower or a 4-year old’s party dress!
Enjoy your yard of color
Have fun exploring floral color combinations in your yard or patio. And remember, we don’t live on the moon! At least not yet!
Jano Nightingale is a Master Gardener and horticulturalist who teaches vegetable gardening at the Carlsbad Senior Center community garden. Contact her at [email protected] or call the Senior Center at 442-339-2650 to register for her class.
