Garden Photo of the Day

Black & blue isn't always painful

Michelle Gervais, Associate Editor

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Michelle Gervais

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Michelle Gervais

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Michelle Gervais

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Michelle Gervais

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Michelle Gervais

Click here to enlarge this photo.

Michelle Gervais

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Michelle Gervais

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Photo: Michelle Gervais

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Today's photo was taken in the garden of Kristin Green in Bristol, Rhode Island. I was walking around her charming, in-town garden recently when I rounded the far corner of the house and was floored by this combo of dramatic colors, shapes, and textures. Dreamy!

The plants in this combo include:
Butterbur (Petasites japonicus, USDA Hardiness Zones 5-9)
'Ellen's Blue' butterfly bush (Buddleia 'Ellen's Blue', Zones 5-9)
Black Lace™ elderberry (Sambucus nigra 'Eva', Zones 4-7)
Bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla cv., Zones 5-9)

Welcome to the Fine Gardening GARDEN PHOTO OF THE DAY blog! Every weekday we post a new photo of a great garden, a spectacular plant, a stunning plant combination, or any number of other subjects. Think of it as your morning jolt of green.

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If you think you have a photo that we should share on the Garden Photo of the day, email us. Send hi-res images to mgervais@taunton.com with GPOD in the subject line. We'll only respond if we plan to use your photo.

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Comments (10)

sheilaschultz writes: Some of my fave combos are subtle in color, but high in visual impact... Man, this combination does it for me! Posted: 5:14 pm on July 31st

grizmom3 writes: Nice combination!! Congrats to you!

grizmom3 Posted: 1:44 pm on July 30th

Kris_at_Blithewold writes: Thanks all! And thanks, Michelle for your visit and kind words about my wacky (charming!) garden. It's funny about that buddleia - it never looked as blue to me before I moved it to that spot. It's just like someone with blue eyes wearing turquoise - the hydrangea really brings out its color. Posted: 9:36 pm on July 29th

LaFlor writes: Beautiful dramatic arrangement of plants & flowers. Makes me want to try to put that in my garden. Posted: 9:04 pm on July 29th

arboretum writes: ah, yes, Ellen's Blue.Dan Hinckley introduced that 15? years ago. That was when I bought my first one; brought back from Heronswood. but lost it after a year and subsequently lost it 3 more times up here in z.5 no. of boston. sigh.
I finally realized that I went to college for a reason, and stopped trying.it was the bluest buddleia I had seen, which was why i kept trying. soo lovely. congrats Kristin, you is a lucky girl!
best,
mindy
www.cottonarboretum.com/ Posted: 2:10 pm on July 29th

wwross writes: This is absolutely beautiful. But its not really black. Posted: 11:02 am on July 29th

Garius writes: Very nice combination, but even better is that I now know that butterbur is the name of the great plant growing in my garden! I got it at a plant exchange, but couldn't find it in any of my books. Now I know what conditions it likes, although by pure accident, I seem to have planted it in an ideal location. Thanks for the serendipitous identification. Posted: 8:41 am on July 29th

Deanneart writes: This is really superb Posted: 6:56 am on July 29th

Gdarla writes: What a delightful combination! Posted: 5:56 am on July 29th

wGardens writes: Great combo! Looks like Sambucus is a "must-have"! Thanks for sharing. Posted: 5:47 am on July 29th

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