Seasonal color and colorscape program

Seasonal color is the most perishable item in any landscape — and the one visitors remember. Our colorscape program plans planters the way a designer plans interiors: a unified theme, chosen by season, exposure and bloom cycle, maintained on a schedule that keeps the color coming.

Annuals vs. perennials — and when to use each

Annuals are the shorter-lived seasonal color, with a bloom cycle of three months or less depending on the weather — they are the “showiest”. Perennials can bloom for a year or more in some situations but are equally susceptible to weather, as with impatiens in the Santa Ana winds. A good colorscape uses both deliberately.

Designed for the planter it lives in

Many factors determine what will work in a particular planter: sun versus winter shade, drainage, salts from irrigation water, and the availability of color in bud or bloom — always a matter of timing and weather. We match species to the planter, not the catalog: pansies and primulas for winter shade, Iceland poppies for winter sun, petunias and marigolds for summer heat with good drainage.

Browse real combinations

Our Colorscape Gallery collects the combinations our crews have installed across client projects — from Crown Series pansies to Madness Series petunias — with the plant list and season for each. Clients who like to be involved in color selection can review choices with their Project Supervisor and help design the colorscape.

Heat is the limit

In sustained heat of 95 °F or above, even perfectly watered color can scorch and will not recover — seasonal color is the most perishable item in the landscape. Selection and placement are how we design around it; see our summer column for the details.