So much for the closet theory -- at least in garden design. So -- what theory does work when it comes to planning and planting that brand new garden?
You could start with the house. If your garden is anywhere near it, you will want plants that harmonize with it instead of screaming competitively. For instance, I am planting a new garden this spring next to my barn. I had considered going for high street drama -- the kind that will have cars screeching to a halt in awe at my bold reds and deep purple foliage. But the barn is pearly gray with soft peach trim. So I decided instead on a silver garden with accents of misty lavender and peach. I will undoubtedly throw in some bright coral and electric blues to wake it up -- but I let the barn determine the basic scheme.
Or you can start with favorite flowers. If you're lucky, the ones you love only come in one or two colors, thus determining the groundwork for your basic color theme. If you're insane for sunflowers, you know you'll be planting in earth tones. But if you think daylilies are divine, you have a problem, since they come in almost every color but blue and pure white.
In that case, why not start with your interior? When we were scraping and painting our new/old house I noticed that most of the walls had been originally painted some variation of pink, from deep, deep mauve to pale. I also noticed that the view from every window looked out on flowering shrubs and plants of the same colors. Someone had obviously been really big on color coordination.
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