Our fourteen-year-old granddaughter Daisy’s favorite holiday – even above Christmas and her birthday – is Halloween. She loves getting dressed up in strange costumes, wearing tons of face paint and being scary … and scared. Go figure. Halloween was never one of my big deals. But I realized recently that there are lots and lots of people who feel the way Daisy does.
One night I got to thinking: what kind of plants could a gardener put in their garden that would create the feel of Halloween for longer than the month of October? I don’t mean the whole garden… just a little section or a pot or two. A whole garden would be, well, scary.
I thought first of the obvious: using black and orange annuals in hanging baskets or in pots around the patio. I actually have some wonderful orange nasturtiums that cascade down almost to the ground just in front of a pot of black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’). But if I were to plant the nasturtiums in the ground around the black mondo grass, they could creep and crawl all over the area and have the black mondo poking up among the nasturtium foliage. Very creepy, literally and figuratively.
(A bit about black mondo grass. First, it is not a grass but a member of the lily family, growing in clumps of arching, black, ribbon-like leaves. Secondly, it is relatively low-growing and spreads slowly, so it's not invasive. And lastly, as good in sun as in deep shade, this little plant is a good addition to any garden.)
Now imagine that orange nasturtium in a hanging basket with the ornamental sweet potato vine (Ipomea batatas) called ‘Blackie.’ They both do well in full sun and would twist and intertwine and - with a little deadheading of the nasturtiums and regular feeding - would bloom and grow all summer long in a dramatic combination. Two pretty orange nasturtiums are ‘Troika Orange’ and ‘Double Gleam Orange’ and they are easy to grow – even for a seed-a-phobe like me. But there are other orange nasturtiums just as nice and easily found in seed displays in local stores and nurseries in the spring.
There are also lots of orange-blossomed flowers to go in a Halloween garden: orange crocosmia, canna lilies, marigolds (although slugs love them), lantana, helenium, and dahlias (‘Tempest’ is a good one). One of my favorites is a newly-planted dahlia called 'Brandy.' This one came from Old House Dahlias, south of Tillamook.
Finding black foliage or flowers seemed a little more difficult.
So, I turned to a book on my shelf called Black Plants. It was written by Paul Bonine and published by Timber Press. Paul is a co-owner of Xera Plants, Inc. on Southwest Clay Street in Portland, a nursery that focuses on locally-grown plants that do well in the Pacific Northwest. I knew his book on black plants would feature a lot of black plant examples that would do well for Tillamook.
Before I continue, I am not going to address the question “is there true black in nature?” because that would open a scientific can of worms. When I say “black” plants, I am referring to plants that are so dark in color that they appear black.
Turns out there are lots of plants with black foliage. Besides the black mondo grass, a very pretty low-growing groundcover is the Ajuga reptans ‘Black Scallop’ – also known as bugleweed. Growing in sun to shade, this plant will work in almost any garden. It tolerates a moderate amount of moisture, so here in Tillamook it needs well-drained soil. In late spring or early summer, it throws spikes with indigo flowers, making a very nice display. Beware, though, Ajuga can get aggressive so plant it in an area where it can take off and not need to be cut back two or more times a season.
A very pretty and dramatic shrub is the elderberry (Sambucus) ‘Black Lace.’ This is a vigorous shrub, deciduous, that forms lovely white flower clusters in early summer. It likes full sun, is hardy to colder climates, and tolerates a wide variety of soils. ‘Black Lace’ has very delicate looking leaves so should be placed in front of other greener-foliaged plants so it doesn’t get lost in the crowd. It can be quite fast-growing in our mild climate but a hard pruning in early spring will tame it.
Physocarpus - or ninebark - has a dark variety, too. Deciduous ‘Diablo’ has finely-toothed leaves that turn fiery orange and red in the fall. Once it is established, it can tolerate cold and drought and does best in rich soils and full sun to light shade. ‘Diablo’ is a moderate-sized shrub that reaches six feet in height and width. Late spring will see clusters of small white-to-pink flowers in flat umbels. A nice plant for our area.
There are also black plants that are more exotic and do better in a greenhouse or as a houseplant. One is called Schunke’s maxillaria. Moist conditions but freely drained are crucial for this orchid. Another is the Bat Flower (Tacca chantrieri), native to the jungles of Thailand. A tropical perennial, this plant adapts well to hothouse growing. Fits in with our Halloween theme, too, as it has a very unusual form that look a little like the whiskers of a cat.
For the late spring garden, the ‘Queen of the Night’ tulip is an outstanding choice. Pair this one with ‘Dordgone’ tulip for a dramatic orange-and-black combination. Black Iris (Iris chysagraphes ‘BlackForm’) is another spring-bloomer. At 20 inches tall, this is a striking plant that forms large grass-green clumps in its preferred full-sun location.
There are lots of choices for the Halloween-lover gardener. Or, may I say, those gardeners who root for the OSU Beavers and their black-and-orange uniforms!
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