ABC Wednesday: Y is for Yellow

Yellow has never been one of my favorite colors. Until I was forty, I don't think I owned an article of yellow clothing. Tastes change, though, and now I have several yellow shirts and blouses, but that may be because yellow brightens rather--ahem--tired-looking skin and hair.

I'm the same way in the garden. Pink and purple are my preferred colors--so peaceful and soothing. But yellow flowers have been slowly creeping into the garden, and not just as an accent.

There are the borders of bright orangey-yellow Stella d'Oro daylilies, of course. But I planted them primarily for their foliage, low maintenance, and rapid growth, not their bright blossoms. I actually prefer this more lemony yellow of a stray/mutant daylily in the clump of Stellas.

The delicate flowers of a "Moonbeam" coreopsis add a splash of lemon yellow to a grouping of boulders near the driveway.

This year, though, I went much brighter in my roadside flower bed. When I saw these "Oranges and Lemons" ("Say the bells of St. Clement's") gaillardia in a catalog, I was smitten by them and created a new space just for them. The florets are a brighter orange than they appear here, but they have yellow tips with yellow centers.

Yellow has even crept into my containers. Lantana has become a new favorite accent plant of mine. Its delicate flowers belie its tough nature--it is one annual that thrives in the heat and humidity of an Illinois summer.

There's nothing subtle about this yellow! The plumes of celosia add a vertical element here in two containers of "hot" colors--orange and yellow.

Yellow can be soothing, too, as seen in these pale yellow supertunias.

Or in these Fusion impatiens.

There are also some yellow superbells (calibrachoa) in this container, but they didn't want to cooperate with me by blooming today. Neither did the yellow gazanias in another container. But my favorite annual purchase this year was more than willing to pose for a photo:

A begonia called simply "Illumination." When I saw this beauty in a local plant center, I knew I had to have it. It has bloomed consistently since the day I bought it six weeks ago. This is one tag I am definitely going to save, so that I can buy it again next year. Or, if someone can tell me how to propagate it to save it over the winter, I would love to know how.

Yellow is the color of sunshine and happiness. It makes my garden smile.

For more ABC Wednesday posts, go to Mrs. Nesbitts Place.