The Grounded Gardener: Plant combos add summer pizazz

(Editor's Note: To create blue, rather than pink, hydrangea blooms, you may need to add aluminum sulfate to the soil. The additive was incorrect in the original version of this article.)

At this time of the summer, the garden is looking good and ready to sail through to autumn -- right? Plants in the ground and in pots need only some slight maintenance for a while.

But if your garden lacks energy, you can get help from plants and combinations that will bring life back to the garden.

Great summer combinations include both foliage and flower, with emphasis on the foliage, because it will carry through for months -- before, during and after the flowers.

In July, take full advantage of deciduous shrubs that have leafed out and are in their full summer regalia. The smoke bush (Cotinus) offers a variety of foliar colors -- deep dark purple ('Royal Purple' and 'Grace'), shocking chartreuse ('Golden Spirit') and mint green ('Pink Champagne'), all in a round leaf form that's hard to find anywhere else. Use these shrubs to contrast flower colors as well as form.

Cotinus 'Golden Spirit,' with its slightly red edge to new growth, looks lovely as a backdrop for perennials. Try it with Stachys albotomentosa (also listed as 'Hidalgo'), with its salmon-colored tubular flowers and its 7UP-fragrant foliage.

Portland-based clematis expert Linda Beutler considers shrubs to be the scaffolding for clematis, and that's a good role for the smoke bush. Red-flowered Clematis 'Niobe' is a standout, and it would stand out even better against the round, chartreuse leaves of Cotinus 'Golden Spirit.'

Other bright-colored clematis make good partners. Use a hybrid of the American species C. texensis; 'Duchess of Albany' has a deep pink flower, while 'Gravetye Beauty' is almost red. Both those selections bloom in July and August with bell-shaped flowers, while the petals recurve slightly for a Marlo Thomas "That Girl" kind of flip.

Make garden hybrids of Penstemon a part of many sunny combinations. Use bright red 'Cherry Glow' against the apple-green leaves of a rugosa rose; 'Garnet' against the purple-gray foliage of Rosa glauca; and the neon purple-blue 'Margarita BOP' with matte, bronze-colored Geranium 'Candy Spice.'

Shady aspects also can shine with summer combinations. Here, hydrangeas rule, although it's getting difficult to pick out the best from each year's new selections.

'Lady in Red' is a newish one that's worth all the hoopla. That's because both the flowers and the foliage provide interest: Dark red stems and deep green leaves are showy for months, much like Hydrangea 'Nigra,' which sports black stems. 'Lady in Red' blooms in pinkish to bluish lacecap flower heads.

My own pink-flowered hydrangea is coming out slightly lavender this year. Changes in hydrangea flower colors inevitably lead to the question "How can I get my pink (or blue) hydrangea to bloom with blue (or pink) flowers?"

You can work at it, adding aluminum sulfate for more acidic soil (blue flowers) or lime for more alkaline soil (pink flowers). Or you can sit back and enjoy whatever show is put on each year.

In my garden, 'Ayesha,' three years in the ground, has one branch flowering pink, while the other branches show blue flowers. It looks great next to the tri-color foliage of Fuchsia magellanica var. gracilis 'Tricolor,' which is gray-green, pink and white.

And whatever color 'Lady in Red' ends up, the stems always will be red and the faded flowers always will have a red tint, and it always will look good next to the snowy white variegation of Philadelphus coronarius 'Variegatus,' which always will look good whether it blooms or not. We set the work in motion and the garden carries on.

Hostas have their moment now. Established hostas come in a wide range of sizes, from impressive stands -- someone recently asked if the Hosta plantaginea 'Royal Standard' along our shady walk was just one plant (yes, one very happy plant) -- to cute-as-a-bug miniatures such as 'Blue Mouse Ears,' which is about 7 inches high and wide.

If a new summer combination strikes your fancy, you can plan on it for next year's display, but quick fixes are at hand for some instant summer magic.

Consider rearranging your potted garden for a fresh look. Or take advantage of your local nursery's sale on perennials: The plants will be in gallon pots and in bloom, just right for planting in the border as is. Or you can pot up the plant, and place the pot in the garden bed; that way, it takes up more room and is more dramatic.

Juxtapose the paddlelike leaves of a canna against the exotic blooms -- red buds open to purple -- of the princess flower (Tibouchina urvilleana) or dramatic blue Agapanthus against anything green.

If you haven't already made these arrangements, you're in luck. Nurseries are putting on sales all over the region -- look for large-size perennials and annuals in full bloom. Take them home and arrange them artfully -- place the nursery pot, say, inside a prettier container and set the whole thing in a gap in the mixed border or group several pots on the patio.

Then sit back and enjoy.