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Henry Francis du Pont's Passion for the Yellow & Purple Combo

Sarah Thompson
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago

I live near Winterthur, Henry Francis duPont's estate, and he championed the yellow/purple color combo (due to their being opposites on the color wheel, if I recall correctly). And in Spring the two most prominent examples are the early corylopsis/mucronulatum (better known to me as Winterhazel and lavender Korean rhododendron) and the later Spring Forsythia/Redbud combo.

I'm generally not a great fan of most garden yellows, being more partial to a cool pink/blue/purple palette. In Spring, even what I consider to be harsh yellows are a welcome relief from the unrelenting grays and browns of a long winter. So, while I prefer the softer yellow of the corylopsis, the forsythia in DuPont's pairing with the redbuds is surprisingly pleasing to me.

Here are some of my pix from Winterthur to illustrate both combos.

Corylopsis/mucronulatum usually peaking around mid-May.




A wider view of the area, with hellebores.


Next post for the forsythia/redbud combo...

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