just_me_6: Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack your thread with my gardening project. As for your siding color for your garden with blues and purples, a soft yellow or creamy white would give you backlighting for those colors to be visible. Some pinks might not go well with a yellow (although I break that rule), and you can use greenery behind the pink if that's an issue. A yellow or white will draw more attention to your house, but those colors work well with country cottage gardens. As you can see from my photos, we built in the back of a 2 acre meadow that has mature woods on 2 sides. We chose the grey/sage/cream to let the lines of the house show up without distracting from the surrounding natural areas. I had considered using a deep brown on the siding, but with our southern exposure on the front, I was concerned about paint fading (we are passive solar). I mentioned having used these same colors twice, so here are the exact colors on my previous house, which was a craftsman-influenced design set in a wooded area with minimal lawn. The only color difference here is that we used a deep charcoal on the window sashes of the true divided lights.

Here is a picture from my backyard. There is a stand of three redwoods in the center background. They are in the front yard. There are six more on the right; three in the front yard, three in the back, but there are cedars on that side as well. They are all at least 20 years old. Sometimes I think I hear "Bwahahahaha"! These are views the other ways, presumably landscaped with oaks by mother nature and her crew of squirrels.

I'm also interested in this question. Any advice?

You have a wonderful, huge deck in a beautiful backyard. You would need to do the benches as well as the railing and steps. If it were mine, I would clean it well then put on a protective coating. That alone will enhance the color and protect it from mildew and wear and tear. You have a lot of deck to cover and if you do a stain, it will NOT be permanent. It doesn't matter which type you purchase and use, it will need to be touched up and/or restained at least every few years and that is if it is applied perfectly. If you decide to deepen or change the color later, you can do it after you've sealed it. If you darken the color with stain and decide in a few years that you wish you hadn't, stripping it all off would be a nightmare and would damage your wood. A colorful unbrella for your table, plants in pots, and some decorative throw pillows would really finish it all off. We purchase our house with a dark stained deck on it and I HATE it. It is hot and the maintenance is a killer.