Join the Dark Side of Gardening

[Captain Hamata]

I remember a disscusion on the boards a while back about plants people have that are dark in color. I thought I start a new thread sharing some pictures of my dark colored plants. If anyone wants to share their pics feel free to post.

Black garden 07

Dahlia 'Mystic Desire'

Elephant Ear (Colocasia antiquorum 'Illustris')

Elephant Ear (Colocasia esculenta 'Black Magic')

Black Bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra)

Purple Castor Bean (Ricinus communis)

Purple Shamrock (Oxalis regnellii atropurpurea)

Jewel Orchid (Ludisia discolor)

Flame violet ( Episcia 'Witch's Kiss')

Flame violet (Episcia 'Brown Flair')

 

[Nepenthes]

Very cool plants you have there Captn. Hamata. They look great.

 

[DavyJones]

I really like the purple shamrock. I grew a green one, "Patty O'Brien," for over a year, impossible to kill. Where did you get a purple one? Really cool looking.

 

[phissionkorps]

Hope you're not extracting ricin lol

 

[PlantAKiss]

You should get a tacca.

Nice garden and plants!

 

[Clint]

You need some purple Canna! We have a whole buttload in our yard that look like this:

http://www.nichegardens.com/images/plants/canna_purpurea.jpg

We also have some dark purple basil plant that pops up every year from seed (it's invasive!) Looks similar to this, bit is not this. Wider, less shiny leaves.

http://personal.ecu.edu/wuenschk/jpg\BasilPurple04.jpg

Also some sort of ajuga that turns purple in high light (or in the winter. Can't remember)

http://www.birds-n-garden.com/gardening/ajuga.jpg

Remind me this spring and I'll sent you some if you want.

 

[Finch]

Would not recommend planting ajuga as anything other than a groundcover, as it is invasive and will invade other plantings and the lawn.



I admit i am really not a fan of dark plants, and all dark gardens... that is simply personal taste, however. Not a fan of goth gardens, but yours is very well done. Are you collecting just dark foliage, because there are some great really dark flowers out there too, for example Dahlia atropurpurea and 'Greuze' tulip. ' 'Bishop of Llandaff' dahlia is really dark in foliage.

 

[MrFlyTrap2]

Another plant to add to the 'dark side' is the walking stick.
It's a small shrub / tree that grows twisted branches that look like walking sticks a wizard would sport while out and about on town.

Corylus Avellana
Corylus Avellana 'Contorta'

http://www.thegardener.btinternet.co.uk/images/corylussky.jpg

 

[rco911]

Very cool! I have some dark plants, black mondo grass is very cool!


speaking of dark side: my darlingtonia went dark side....

 

[jimscott]

This is scenery from when we were living in Reading, PA:

Could be darker, I suppose.

 

[Ozzy]

I'm really good at growing dark plants. Brown and crispy.

 

[Captain Hamata]

JLAP- The cannas you have look like Wyoming(Orange Flower) or maybe Futurity Rose(Red Flower). I like the tropical look cannas bring to yards. A friend gave me some divisions of Ajuga reptans last season. I don't mind if the bugleweed takes over. I'd still rather have that than dandilions or crabgrass. I think my same friend has that basil in her yard, so I'll get some from her. We live down the street from each other and share a lot of plants. I actually set her up with a mini bog of cp's I planted last year.

Finch- The black garden and dark plants aren't the only thing I grow. I keep cp's, african violets, orchids, cacti/succulents, bonsai, tropicals, hostas, and everything in between.

Here's a pic of another part of the garden.(Sorry about the blurriness)

MrFlyTrap2- Funny you should mention the Corylus. I have a small Corylus avellana 'Contorta' I planted last spring. It's hard to see, but it's in the center of the circle in this picture.