Personally, I like 'maroon' foliaged or blooming plants with blues, such as: heuchera (coral bell) 'palace purple' with the ornamental 'blue oat grass' or dwarf 'crimson pygmy' barberry with russian sage (perovskia). I also like many of the dwarf conifers or evergreens with burgandy foliaged or blooming plants, such as; siberian iris 'sultan's ruby' with dwarf pine globe 'mugo slowmound' or spreading 'dwarf japanese juniper' (coral bell or barberry look great w/these as well). Happy hunting!

Oh! I think you would like my "Dark Side" garden.....

Heucheras - 'Cathedral Windows', 'Chocolate Veil', Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip', Chocolate cosmos, 'Black' clover (not really black, but maroon with green edges), Loropetalum chinensis, Sambucus nigra, Bronze fennel, 'Black Knight' carnations...again, not really black, but dark maroon, Aquilegia 'Black Barlow', Anthriscus 'Ravenswing', Aster lateriflorus 'Lady in Black', A.l. 'Price', Corydalis flexuosa 'Purple Leaf', Euphorbia dulcis 'Chameleon', Geranium phaem 'Samobor', Knautia macedonia, Rudbeckia 'Black Beauty', Lobelia 'Fan Scarlet', some black pansies, dark red barberry.... Gosh I can't remember everything in there, but it is really crowded with either dark foliage, or dark flowers. I potted up the purple fountain grass this year after the first light frost, as usually I lose it each winter, due to the fact I am usually too late. That is the only tender thing I bother to save. Usually I grow some purple basils in there, and maybe this year I might add some perilla, as I have not grown this before. Oh yes, and some 'Drgon's Blood' sedum, as well as a couple tall varieties of purple sedums.
There is plenty of contrast, thiough, as a lot of the foliage is green and there are pale as well as bright flowers blooming in there, mostly as different times, though. This year I have added some dark tulips as well.

Whoops! I posted a list of some of the plants in the 'Dark Side' garden already! In the post'...just can't get enough of that purple foliage'...
Hey, Dawn G., Hey Bambi, let's get together and see what we can come up with??

Evelyn

what about chartreuse colored coleus or sweet potato vines? there is also a beautiful burgundy petunia(i think it is in the madness series) the coleus also comes in burgundy ruffles and variated burgundy and green. also peach now. new greaniums also came out in the last two years that are a BEAUTIFUL burgundy velvet if you can find them.

By accident I had a lovely combo this year...Black Hollyhocks (actually a deep, deep maroon), with white strawflower, gray santolina, burgandy scabiosa and red sage. It looked wonderful and I think I'm going to plan an entire bed in those colors this spring.

Peach and blue also look very good with dark maroon, as does pink, but I don't do pink. LOL

I also mixed dianthus 'black and white minstrels' and Shasta 'Aglaya' with my chocolate cosmos. It was a stunning combo!

Wanda

Have you seen these? If memory serves me right, this is burpee's Chianti sunflower. . .the shades vary from burgundy to deep russet, like this one.

I went through a burgundy/maroon phase last summer. I grew Park's Velvet and Lace dianthus (perennial to zone 6), the Ace of Spades scabiosa, and garnet centaura. This year I'm adding some more perennial dianthus: one called Horatio - it's a double white laced in maroon from Bluestone Perennials and another called Lady Granville from Canyon Creek Nuseries. As for burgundy annuals, I grew a beautiful burgundy and white ivy leafed geranium called Picasso and also a Martha Washington geranium that was burgudy and white. Black Prince snapdragons are a crimson red that looks great with the other things! I've been drooling over Lysimachia atropurpurea in the Thompson Morgan catalog. And there are lots of burgundy dahlias of all sizes! I like to add white or light pink flowers with the burgundy.

Good luck!
Debra

Hi, have you guys tried Geranium Phaem? Its common name is mourning widow, its a wonderful hardy geranium.
lorraine

Hello again, I din't realise I had sent in the short message, as you will guess I am very new to this - by this I mean computers and chat rooms - it has taken me all day to figure out where I found you in the first place.
Geranium phaem is known as the mourning widow because its dark purple flowers hang down looking rather like the bonnets worn by widows in the last century. Because it is available in a variety of colours you must be careful where you buy it or try and get a cutting from one in flower. It grows to around 80cm tall by 45 across (had to look that up as I still work in feet and inches). It is a hardy geranium and flowers in late spring/early summer, very good in moist shade, although it will grow in other sites as long as it is not too dry and hot.
Will that do
Lorraine :-)

I love Victoria Blue Salvia and any blue,gray or silver foliage plant (lambs ears, artemesia, dianthus) with maroon flowers or foliage. Japanese painted fern is good too since it has maroon striping.

I bought a japanese anemone called Brodnant's Burgundy from
Roslyns Nursery on Long Island last fall. The foliage is green with burgundy flowers. I plan to plant with a white anemone (Honorine) and Longwood Blue Caryopteris.

I saw an unusual coleus at the fair last year called Purple Duckfoot. The foliage is very small for a hybrid coleus but the plants were massive and I'd have to describe the color as a finely mottled burgundy pink. It would be a little difficult to blend in a border, but I took careful notes of what would look good with it from among all the plantings at the fair. My notes say pink and lime nicotiana, light pink osteospermum (there is a new hardy at highcountrygardens.com), blue ageratum, acidanthera, calendula and lavender lantana, as well as the aforementioned lime sweet potato vine (Margarite?).

I don't think anyone's mentioned Wine and Roses Weigela. This one is quite stunning with some sort of pale pink nearby, like a pink Boltonia. Of course the shrub would be slow growing and overwhelmed by the Boltonia at first. I think that both are available from Bluestone.

Bambi,

How about deep maroonish-purple Scabiosa/pincushion
flowers?

They are lovely, and while not strictly maroon,
they would look wonderful with flowers that are
actually pure maroon--and so would the pale lavender
pincushion flowers. (And, they grow as self-sowing
perennials in our mild Berkeley climate.)

They bloom and bloom for many months each year,
and look wonderful as cut flowers, alone or in
mixed bouquets. Their foliage is dainty and lacy.

Hope you like them! I'd love to hear if you do . . .

L
BerkeleyRose

http://www.gardenweb.com/members/berkeleyrose

Here is a link that might be useful: Beautiful SCABIOSA picture! : )

Bambi,

Hi, again!

With the Scabiosa still as my first choice, here
is a longer list of maroon flowers:
maroon BatchelorÂs Buttons
maroon Sweet Williams
maroon Dianthus
maroon Dahlias
maroon Gladiolas
maroon Abutilon

What would also go nicely with all of those above:
pink Cleome: http://www.humeseeds.com/cleome.htm
rose pink Forget-Me-Nots : www.humeseeds.com/fgmntp.htm
Viscaria http://www.humeseeds.com/viscr.htm

Have fun!

L
BerkeleyRose

Here is a link that might be useful: VISCARIA flowers, shades of red, pink, lavender and blue

Give it some contrast - i.e. Yellow Coreopsis, Daisies white & Yellows. Yellow colored flowers go with anything. Also use your pinks.

Also in maroon:

leaves and sometimes flowers of amaranth
dark red lupines
'burnished bronze' or 'black diamond' sweet pea
some pansies in 'antique' shades
certain irises
'ace of spades' scabiosa
red sunflowers
dark red snapdragons

mourning widow is really rather purple than maroon, but I have some seeds if you want to trade something.

What about Limerock Ruby Coreopsis! It was new to me this year, anxious to see if it comes back.

I have a nice combination of Astrantia major, Trollious with a yellow/gold flower and a Japanese Painted Fern. There is also some Artemesia 'Silver King' mixed in to play off the fern and the Astrantia. I never thought the yellow would look good with it but the contrast is stunning.

Nice post...

Hi,

I saw a nice combo on Jacson and perkins -- those burgandy/maroon drumstick alliums with lavander.

Bloodleaf is a dark, shiny red, and it looks wonderful next to golden hostas or gold lilyturf. It has a crinkly leaf (my neighbor told me it was basil, but it's not) and a upright shape. The gold foliage is a really strong contrast, and brightens it.

Bloodleaf is super-easy to grow. It spreads a little, but it's easy to pull up the extras and they take transplanting well.

Beet tops! I planted a beet in a pot and the foilage is exactly what you want. The stems are a bright burgundy and the leaves are chartreus with burgundy veining. Lovely! The leaves are getting larger and larger. The largest one so far (indoors in a pot in winter, no less) is 10" long and 5-6" wide. I am simply astounded by this. I plan to leave it in its pot this summer and see how it makes it on it's own, outdoors.

{{gwi:2102013}}

For maroon foliage look out for: Penstemon "Huskers Red," Sedum "Vera Jameson," Heuchera "Purple Palace," (changes colors quite a bit over the seasons, depending on light exposure) Aster "Prince," Bergenia "Bressingham Ruby," Primula Veris "Red flowering," Lychnis "Vesuvius,"

For dark maroon/purple foliage shrubs: Cotinus "Royal Purple Smokebush," Purple Leaf Sandcherry, & a lot of Barberries too (but they have sharp thorns!).

For dark maroon flowers: Asiatic Lily "Monte Negro," Tulipa "Queen of the Night," Daylily "Salieri," Aquilegia/Columbine "Ruby Port," Astrantia Major "Hadspen Blood,"

For companion planting with maroon colored foliage plants?: I'd go with silver foliage plants to make a strong contrast. i.e. Artemisia/Wormwood "Silver Mound," Cerastium "Snow in Summer," Verbascum, "Helen Johnson," Lambs Ear, Rose Campion, etc.

For companion planting with maroon flowering plants: I'm not too sure, I'd either try to compliment the shades of red with more red, bleeding into shades of purple/violet and magenta/pink, or contrast it with pale,peachy,creamy colors with sparks of white such as the Anemone, "Honorine Jobert," as someone else has mentioned earlier. It's hard because dark colored flowers and foliage usually recedes into the background and sometimes aren't even noticeable from afar or even up close too. So I'm really interested in reading more about what others are recommending and how they've gone around this problem.

If you're looking for maroon blooms, try geranium samobar Mourning Widow. Deep maroon flowers with a little white in the center and green leaves with maroon splotches.

Have you seen Lysimachia 'beaujolais'? Spelling may not be correct but it is a maroon gooseneck bloom on a silvery blue folliage. It is very pretty. Also Knautia 'macedonica' is a very nice burgundy.

I couldn't believe this, I was walking into my local grocery store and they had a few dying perennials out near the entrance (I hardly ever look at them). But there within all of the mess was one tiny pot of Lysimachia atropurpurea 'beaujolais!' I swear if I didn't read the last post yesterday and looked-up the plant on the net, I would've passed this one by. But instead I grabbed it right away and I'm now totally excited to have it. Thank you so much margay! This looks to be quite a nice find!

Question: does it grow in shade as it's relative the white-neck-goosestrife would? Also, what are some good ideas for companion plants?

I think white flowered plants go nicely with burgundy and light pink flowered and chartruese...... zinnia envy..... chartruese leaved geraniums...... Any white flowered plants..... penstemmon huskers red has burgundy foliage and white flowers........ There's a new oriental poppy that's maroon but you probably won't be able to find it...... I forget the name..... it's a double type...... P.S. the lysimachia autropupurea is not as invasive as the white goosenecks..... although they're darned pretty..... Lysmiachia autropurpurea needs more sun...... but similar conditions...... :) I looooove dark plants they stand out sometimes in an opposite way like yellow!!!!!