Black Beauties

Get out of the dark and open your eyes to the wondrous, sexy, mysterious and intriguing world of black in the garden.  Black flowers and foliage in the garden are as essential as the side dish next to your entrée.  They create depth, they make a focal area come to life, and they lure, tantalize and bewitch a gardens ambience.  Whether a gardener uses black as the star of the show or as a supporting role, if the deep, dramatic barely-there color is assigned to make hot colors seem cooler or to generate the illusion of cool colors seeming hotter – black is a must have intermingled in any gardening scheme.  Black allows a viewer’s eyes a place to rest.  Black juxtaposed next to silvers, whites, chartreuses, pinks or really any color only accentuates that color more. 

There are no real true black plants as any Impressionist painter or landscape artist will tell you, black does not exist in nature.  When I refer to black plants they are generally deep purples or dark burgundy’s but in the shade of an oak tree, the eye will register them as black. 

In the autumn garden where many colors have faded and the space feels like a consecutive row of various shades of green, the bold allure of black shrubs and trees will cure the lackluster colorless feel that the once lively garden has embodied.  Scott Wisdom, Sales Associate at Sunrise Garden Center, says, “Purple foliage makes it so the autumn landscape has color.  Looking for foliage with color can complete the garden.  The first thing I look for is texture and foliage the blooms are just icing on the cake.” 

Just as there are trends in architecture, fashion and foods the same is true of gardening.  Growers are acutely aware of the demands of an experimental public whose insatiable appetite for the unique and different tends to steer the movement of black into the garden more and more with each season.  Now growers are working on a black Sweet Pea and a darker than dark Coleus, recently growers came out with ‘Midnight Mystique’ hyacinth and who knows what other tempting delights will be introduced in these deep, sumptuous shades in the years to come.

The successful use of these dark plants is not in the plant itself but rather the placement of the flora.  Amy Albright, Owner of Vineland Valley Nursery, states, “In design what makes a color stand out is through the contrast.  If you selectively use the color and texture contrasts you don’t even necessarily need a flower or bloom of any kind.  It is not about the individual plants but rather how the plants play off one another.”  Wisdom agrees, “If you haven’t tried these dark tones you can have so much fun with the color pairings of light and dark.  The beauty is in the juxtaposition of the dark leaves next to a lighter plant that makes them interesting.  For instance using Creeping Jenny with its chartreuse colors as a ground cover and then a dark Coralbell on top will make both plants pop out of the landscape.”

Do not be afraid to dive into the deep, dark end of the gardening color spectrum.  Be adventurous and take the plunge.  Wisdom espouses, “There are no rules to black plant placement in the garden.  If you have a focal point where you are attempting to lead the eye - black will achieve that.  It is so subtle in some instances that a gardener may forget all about it but it is working at adding depth and mystery to the surrounding flora.”

Black Bonanza:

Trees & Shrubs

• Japanese Maple
• Ninebark ‘Diablo’
• ‘Crimson King’ Maple
• ‘English’, ‘Black Beauty’, ‘Black Lace’ Elderberry
• ‘Midnight Wine’, ‘Wine & Roses’ Weigela
• Purple Smoke Bush

Perennials

• ‘Superstition’, ‘Before the Storm’ Iris
• ‘Palace Purple’, ‘Obsidian’, ‘Regina’ Coralbells
• ‘Husker Red’, ‘Whipple’s’ Beardtongue
• Shenandoah Switchgrass
• ‘Black Baccara’ Tea Rose
• Black & dark red Hellebores
• Black bamboo
• Black Mondo, related to Lirope
• ‘Lynda Windsor’, ‘Black Jack’, ‘Purple Emperor’ Sedums
• ‘Plum Crazy’ hibiscus
• ‘Red Dragon’ Persicaria
• ‘Black Barlow’ Columbine

Bulbs & Annuals

• Sweet Potato Vine
• ‘Arabian Nights’ Hollyhock (biannual)
• ‘Queen of Night’, ‘Black Parrot’ Tulips
• Purple Fountain Grass
• Coleus
• ‘Flamingo Purple’ Celosia
• ‘Midnight Mystique’ Hyacinth
• Cannas with deep burgundy leaves
• ‘Black Arrow’ Delphinium
• Black Elephant Ear
• ‘Black Devil’ Pansy