New Canaan Mailbox Dropoff Pollinator Garden

The mailbox garden is 6 years old! It is mainly a perennial garden with an evergreen hedge to block the parked cars and some shrubs at the top of the slope near the parking spots. The original color scheme was a purple and yellow garden. At first, you might think that purple and yellow don’t go together, because one is a cool color, and one is a warm color. They are opposite! Many people who love purple plants do not like yellow. In fact, some gardeners dislike yellow plants. But a ha! Purple and yellow belong to a color scheme that is one of the most pleasing color schemes in garden design, COMPLEMENTARY color scheme. That is two colors opposite each other on the color wheel. When I was choosing plants with yellow flowers, I was very careful to choose cultivars of Achillea (yarrow) and Coreopsis that have buttery, soft yellow tones.

There is more than one color scheme at the mailbox planting, In May, when the Salvias, Penstemon, and Nepeta are in bloom, the color scheme for the slope planting is Analogous. Analogous color scheme is one where the colors are next to each other on the color wheel. These continuous shades on the color wheel are very pleasing combinations. There are several cultivars of Salvias, chosen for their different shades of pink & purples and bloom time, the purple Nepeta, and soft pink Penstemon. In the fall, the yellow Coreopsis and the golden yellow foliage of Amsonia by the sidewalk is also an Analogous color scheme. You can see it a block away!