Red and Black Week, Day 4. Add some drama to your garden

I enjoy the typical english cottage garden, it mixes well with the typical Swedish granny garden. There are two large flower beds with mainly purple flowers in my garden. This year I decided that I wanted to add more drama in, by burgundy and black flowers. It's not easy to find real black flowers but if you combine the darkest ones with contrast colours, they will appear black. 

I already have burgundy Snapdragons (what a lovely name in english). By selecting selecting seeds from burgundy flowers of a mix I received from mum, I'm almost there.

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I havent these yet but will get them. The almost black Parrot tulip. They are amazing in real life. No wonder that the dutch rated them to the skies during the 15th century.

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Red Patersons curse have a soft red colour. I really look forward to this one in bloom.

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One of my favourite flowers is Alumroot. Not very striking but the leafs are perfect to combine with other flowers. The fairylike flowers lightens everything up.

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The blackest of them all. Black Scabiosa.

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The contrast colour to black is white. Some elements of white is actually necessary in a black flowergarden (or if you prefer, yellow). They will make the almost black flowers darker. Another plus is that you can enjoy the garden in the late evenings when white flowers will light up the shadows.  These Sweet williams are called Caleidoscope and have a 3D effect with the underlying colours.

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Pink Veronicas will also add to balancing the bold colours. You can see that I chose different forms, round, discs and spikes.By different forms the flowerbed will be interesting to the eyes and mind.

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A purple climber Ipomoea, that in my vision will climb over the hedge (reality is different) .

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Here's another selection of what I will grow. Black sunflowers and hollycocks will add hight to the garden.

This is a photo of how it looks at the moment. As you can see the clover and the pansies are already following the colourscheme above.

Well you didn't see much of bright red flowers in this selection right? The problem with bright red flowers are that they are bold. Instead of drama there's a risk you get drag, and that wasn't my purpose. A gothic garden should have a romantic touch to the drama and you will get that by the softer shades.

Maybe you were expecting dark red roses and lilies. Well I love both and I do already have them in my garden but pink ones. To grow a garden is never something consistent, it always change. Some plants will never thrive and you have to look for something else, always that trial and error, while some are litterally weeds. I hope that I will return with a post of my flower beds later this summer.