M y affinity for chartreuse may have begun in the early fifties when my parents bought a new dinette. My mother was especially proud that it was a “Chromcraft”, which may have been my first exposure to “branding”. Mom’s pride in owning that brand might hold some credence, since that table has been passed around the family and may still be in use today. Learning that its color was “chartreuse” taught me a new color name--one that was not in my box of 24 Crayola crayons. It wasn’t even in the box of 48 crayons at school. And who would have guessed that my mother had selected a color that would be so popular...fifty years later!
In case you don’t know, chartreuse is a mixture of green and yellow--about 50/50 of each. Its popularity is seen in all areas of design--clothing, jewelry, home décor and even landscaping. It has been called the “new black” because it pairs so well with almost every color--it can be thought of as a “neutral”.
It is easy to use chartreuse in the garden, since it is so naturally “comfortable” in nature. Another name could be “spring green”, as many of the young leaves in early spring sport that fresh yellow-green hue. To utilize it in a planting bed, one suggestion would be massing plants with chartreuse leaves as a backdrop to other plants. In our area, we have seen how the very opportunistic Ipomoea ‘Marguerite’ sweet potato vine can achieve this goal. It is one of the best plants for color punch in the landscape. It will overtake your beds with wonderful bright chartreuse velvety, fan-shaped leaves. Its creeping habit loves summer sun and heat. Keep in mind, however, given favorable conditions, it could overtake any smaller plants for which it might have started out as the “backdrop”.
In the past, I have considered Coleus to be a rather boring group of plants. However that has all changed. The Coleus group offers incredibly colorful foliage in a variety of attractive sizes and shapes, which includes a number of chartreuse selections. New cultivars are constantly being introduced. Some of the bright green cultivars include ‘Electric Lime’, ‘Wild Lime’, ‘The Line’, ‘Chocolate Splash’, ‘Saturn’s Rings’, ‘Fire Fingers’, ‘Schizophrenia’ and ‘Chartreuse’.
Some garden trials in the U.S. in the last decade revealed sun-tolerant cultivars also known as Sun-coleus. This helped Coleus to become a popular garden plant in the U.S. in recent years. Also, recent developments include the large leaved seed Coleus--the Kong series, which has been well received. Coleus have a tendency to grow tall, leggy and unattractive with age, which can usually be resolved by pinching back the growth tips to encourage bushing. Coleus is not generally grown for its flowers, and since they promote stem elongation, pinching back the flowers also enhances the shape of the plant. They are very easy to propagate and can usually be rooted by clipping a length of stem just below the leaves and putting the stem into water or light soil.
Using hostas is my personal favorite way to add chartreuse to the garden, and there are so many that do the job admirably. There are more than 7,000 named hostas varying greatly in size, shape, coloration, texture and flowering characteristics.
Hostas have become the No. 1 selling perennial, according to American Nurseryman Magazine and the Perennial Plant Association.
One of my favorites is ‘Sum and Substance’. It shines a dependable bright light in the garden, is sun tolerant, develops gigantic leaves and does not need high maintenance. A small chartreuse hosta with narrow leaves and a rugged will to survive is ‘Pineapple Upsidedown Cake’. ‘Lime Krinkles’ sports beautiful quilted leaves in one color--lime green, and really makes a statement. Other chartreuse winners are ‘Sun Power’, ‘Stained Glass’, ‘Inniswood’ and ‘Tokudama aureonebulosa’. There are dozens more that would work perfectly.
Don’t forget about ornamental grasses, bulbs and trees when adding chartreuse to your garden. Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’, or Japanese forest grass, is the 2009 perennial plant of the year. Its chartreuse blades offer vivid highlights and it is noted for its cascading effect. Several Japanese maples offer chartreuse leaves, either on new growth or all season long. If you are a fan of elephant ears, you will enjoy seeing how ‘Lime Zinger’ provides a striking contrast particularly to darker foliage plants.
Consider adding a chartreuse element to your garden!