Gorgeous Yellow-and-Blue Plantings
Get ideas for using the classic color combination in garden beds, borders and containers this season
Lauren Dunec Hoang
March 21, 2018
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and in-house designer for Sunset's Editorial Test Garden. Her garden designs have been featured in the Sunset Western Garden Book of Landscaping, Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy-Care Plantings (cover), Inhabitat, and POPSUGAR.
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and... More
Pairing flowers in lively yellow and soothing lavender blue — hues that sit opposite of each other on the color wheel — creates a winning combination in the garden, with just the right amount of contrast and balance. As you’re getting ready to plant your spring- or summer-blooming flowers, try making use of this classic color pairing in a bed, section of a border or containers on your patio.
To get your imagination going, take a look at nine ideas from gardens that embrace this color pairing. We’ve also included a reference list of garden favorites that feature yellow and blue flowers or foliage.
1. Watercolor palette. In this meadow garden in Malvern, Pennsylvania, landscape designer Donald Pell paired yellow-flowering prairie rosinweed (Silphium terebinthinaceum), native to Midwestern prairies, with the purple-blue ‘Blue Fortune’ hyssop (Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’), pale blue ‘Filigran’ Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Filigran’) and ornamental grasses to create a beautiful and pollinator-friendly garden.
Massing the flowers and grasses into swaths emphasizes the different colors and forms of the plants. The result is a garden that looks as soothing as a watercolor painting.
Massing the flowers and grasses into swaths emphasizes the different colors and forms of the plants. The result is a garden that looks as soothing as a watercolor painting.
Plants to the left of the path: Prairie rosinweed (Silphium terebinthinaceum), autumn moor grass (Sesleria autumnalis) and ‘Filigran’ Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Filigran’); plants on the right: ‘Blue Fortune’ hyssop (Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’) and ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’)
Did you notice how Pell mapped out the plantings so a purple- or blue-flowering plant is always next to a swath of a yellow-flowering, yellow-green or bronze foliage plant? This arrangement helps show off the contrast between the yellow and lavender hues.
Did you notice how Pell mapped out the plantings so a purple- or blue-flowering plant is always next to a swath of a yellow-flowering, yellow-green or bronze foliage plant? This arrangement helps show off the contrast between the yellow and lavender hues.
2. Spring container. The yellow-lavender color pairing is seen here in a sweet entryway container filled with miniature daffodils, fragrant hyacinth and bicolored yellow, lavender and lavender-orange violas. Including a darker purple hyacinth in the arrangement deepens the palette and helps make the yellows and pastel purples stand out.
14 Colorful Spring Containers to Cheer Up Your Porch or Garden | see more containers
14 Colorful Spring Containers to Cheer Up Your Porch or Garden | see more containers
3. Geometric meadow. This low-water planting in a Berkeley, California, garden contains Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas), two types of lavender cotton (Santolina chamaecyparissus) and pops of purple allium, pairing lavender and yellow in a fresh way.
Plantings are kept formal and geometric, with the green and silver lavender cotton planted on a grid and allium coming up between the mounds. As more plants bloom, the contrast between the yellow flowers and silver-blue foliage and lavender will be even more pronounced.
Plantings are kept formal and geometric, with the green and silver lavender cotton planted on a grid and allium coming up between the mounds. As more plants bloom, the contrast between the yellow flowers and silver-blue foliage and lavender will be even more pronounced.
4. Carefree pathway. Here we see two of the same plant types from the previous image, but with a very different result. In this London garden the plantings are informal, and the English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and yellow-flowering lavender cotton (Santolina chamaecyparissus) billow over the flagstone stepping stones leading to the seating area mixed with Latin American fleabane (Erigeron karvinskianus).
5. Low-water Mediterranean. This Mediterranean-style garden in Central California’s Santa Ynez Valley makes use of primarily drought-friendly plants, including a pleasing pairing of purple-blue pride of Madeira (Echium candicans) and yellow-flowering Jerusalem sage (Phlomis fruticosa). The side-by-side planting emphasizes the complementary colors.
In a different shot of the same garden, the yellow of the Jerusalem sage plays off the silver-blue of an agave and ground cover plants, such as blue fescue (Festuca glauca) and silver carpet (Dymondia margaretae), as well as the blue shutters.
6. Summer containers. For this summer container trio, designer Glenna Partridge paired Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas) with trailing golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’) and edible herbs, including mint, fennel, thyme and tarragon. The composition benefits from the lime color of golden creeping Jenny, which complements the purple lavender and brightens the arrangement overall.
12 Stylish Ways to Plant Your Summer Container Gardens
12 Stylish Ways to Plant Your Summer Container Gardens
7. Sunny perennials. Pollinator magnets Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) and black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) make a classic summer pairing of lavender blue and golden yellow. Both plants have long bloom times that will carry gardens from summer into fall.
In a Missouri garden, a pairing of ‘Goldsturm’ black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’) and native purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea) make a complementary vignette among a larger meadow planting.
8. Dry garden. This colorful dry garden in San Luis Obispo, California, proves that you can achieve almost any color palette under the rainbow using succulents and other water-wise plants.
In this corner of the slope, we see the complementary hues of yellow and blue in the form of Bright Star yucca (Yucca gloriosa var. recurvifolia ‘Walbristar’) and blue chalk sticks (Senecio mandraliscae) with a little purple-violet borrowed from flowers in the foreground.
In this corner of the slope, we see the complementary hues of yellow and blue in the form of Bright Star yucca (Yucca gloriosa var. recurvifolia ‘Walbristar’) and blue chalk sticks (Senecio mandraliscae) with a little purple-violet borrowed from flowers in the foreground.
9. Natural meadow. Complementary colors often show up side by side in nature in the blooms of wildflowers or other native plants. In gardens, if you have one native species, show off the bloom color by planting another native or garden-friendly ornamental in a complementary hue.
Yellow buttercups and blue-purple small camas (Camassia quamash), also called wild hyacinth, form a perfect pair in this maintained meadow in West Dean, England. Many species of buttercup are native to the meadows and wetlands of the U.K., while the camas is an introduced plant from North America.
Blue and Purple Flowers
Spring-blooming flowers
Spring-blooming flowers
- Allium
- Bluebells
- Clematis
- Hyacinth
- Iris
- Larkspur (Delphinium spp.)
- Lavender
- Phlox
- Peony
- Nemesia
- Small cama (Camassia quamash)
- Snapdragon
- Viola
Summer-blooming flowers
- Aster
- Bluebell bellflower (Campanula rotundifolia)
- Geranium
- Lavender
- Lupine
- Pincushions (Scabiosa spp.)
- Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
- Sage (Salvia spp.)
- Sea holly (Eryngium spp.)
- Sweet alyssum
- ‘Walker’s Low’ catmint (Nepeta x faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’)
- Wild lilac (Ceanothus spp.)
Yellow Flowers
Spring-blooming flowers
Spring-blooming flowers
- Buttercups
- Daffodils
- Hyacinth
- Iris
- Lady Banks’ rose (Rosa banksiae)
- Phlox
- Peony
- Snapdragon
- Viola
- Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum)
Summer-blooming flowers
- Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
- Blanketflower (Gaillardia aristata)
- California flannel bush (Fremontodendron californicum)
- Coneflower (Echinacea spp.)
- Dahlia
- Coreopsis
- Lavender cotton (Santolina chamaecyparissus)
- Lupin
- Marigold
- Sunflowers
- Yarrow (Achillea spp.)
Shadowland ‘Waterslide’ Hosta
Foliage
Silver and blue foliage plants
Foliage
Silver and blue foliage plants
- Blue chalk sticks (Senecio mandraliscae and S. serpens)
- Blue fescue (Festuca glauca)
- Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus)
- Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ (Dichondra argentea ‘Silver Falls’)
- Dusty miller (Senecio cineraria)
- Lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina)
- Shadowland ‘Waterslide’ hosta (Hosta hybrid)
- Silver carpet (Dymondia margaretae)
- ‘Silver Charm’ largeleaf brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla ‘Silver Charm’)
- Variegated thyme
Yellow, chartreuse and gold foliage plants
More
See how to grow more colorful flowers
Find a landscape professional on Houzz
- Bowles’ golden grass (Milium effusum ‘Aureum’)
- Golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’)
- ‘Piedmont Gold’ hosta (Hosta ‘Piedmont Gold’)
- Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’)
- Key Lime Pie coral bells (Heuchera hybrid)
- Bright Star yucca (Yucca gloriosa var. recurvifolia ‘Walbristar’)
More
See how to grow more colorful flowers
Find a landscape professional on Houzz
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