Looking around at the garden trends for 2017, the key colour this year is the pantone colour of Greenery, whether using it as an accent colour inside or as a backdrop in the garden. Pantone describe it as,

‘Greenery is a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew. Illustrative of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the great outdoors, the fortifying attributes of Greenery signals consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate.’ ¹

It is a mid-green with yellow tones to it, whether using swathes of it as a calming backdrop, adding in other tones and textures of greens or using it to highlight other colours, Greenery will go with just about anything.

Looking around gardens and the wider landscape, there are a wide range of plants that fulfill the colour of 2017, from grasses such as Agrostis capillaris and Festuca vivipara, to the round leaves of Alchemilla mollis or euphorbias. Many ferns have leaves in this shade from Matteuccia struthiopteris to Asplenium scolopendrium, which will lighten the atmosphere of a shady corner of the garden. Using Greenery planted en-masse creates a calming space in which to relax or makes a brilliant foil for other textures and colours. Plants with paler green foliage will highlight darker green focal points, adding yew (Taxus baccata) or box (Buxus sempervirens) balls or cones in with softer grasses add a strong contrast both in terms of colour and texture.

Alternatively using plants with Greenery coloured leaves allow the flowers to become the star, from the bright blue pinheads of Forget-me-nots (Myosotis sylvatica), velvety irises or the purple-blue flowers of Tradescantia virginiana. The mid-green leaves really make the blue and purple flowers standout. But then using Greenery as a backdrop will work with just about any flower colour, from the yellows of hemerocallis, the warming orange of Calendula officinalis to the deep red of Achillea millefolium ‘Red Velvet’.

Or just as a focal point, maybe a tree such as Cercis siliquastrum (Judas tree) which has the added bonus of stunning pink flowers in spring.

¹ https://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2017