Van Dycks

I can see you scratching your head over this title! Orange has been considered an outrageous color for as long as I can remember. In fact, I remember being flabbergasted when I heard that the Color Marketing Institute had declared it one of this year's hot colors. I mean - ORANGE??? Can you even begin to imagine painting your living room the color of a Halloween pumpkin?

I can't. But I can imagine a room in beautiful shades of blue, brightened immeasurably by a bunch of bright, orange tulips. Beautiful, very bright colors are welcome in spring, after the bleakness of winter. Think of how we all love bright yellow daffodils - and how much more exciting are the ones with the orange trumpets, such as 'Suade'. 'Orange Progress' or 'Ambergate'.

And imagine how cheering a field of mixed yellow and orange tulips can be. 'Orange Nassua' is a gorgeous Double Early tulip, or try Orange Emperor, or the truly flamboyant mandarin orange and yellow 'Orange Queen'. And yellow blends with orange much more naturally than it does with the more usual red.

Too bright? If you're not into flamboyance, you might be surprised at how gorgeous orange flowers are with blues and purples. The cool tones of these colors take the edge off orange and create a truly gorgeous picture in the garden. In spring combine oranges with bright blue muscari, blue hyacinths or Scilla. Or try it with lavender - Orange looks as good with anything from deepest to palest purple as it does with blue.

In summer, the possibilities are even better. Deep blue Siberian irises and orange daylilies or Asiatic lilies are a smashing combination, as are bearded iris in purple or blue with scarlet-orange Oriental poppies. And blue or purple veronicas and salvias, which bloom from June through frost will add drama to a planting of orange Potentilla 'William Rollisson', and the spotted bright blossoms of Belmacanda - and look sensational surrounding that butterfly magnet, Asclepia tuberosa.

But I can hear some of you protesting " Yeah - that's nice, but I'm really into pastels."

Well - what is apricot but a pale shade of orange? And can you imagine anything more meltingly lovely than a cloud of silver foliage such as Lavandula (English lavender) with its pale purple flowers, accented by the feathery fronds and pale peach blossoms of Achillea 'Salmon Beauty' and the small, fragile-looking but colorful daylily 'Siloam French Doll'??

And consider the canna. Pfitzer's salmon pink is a pale orange sherbet color, the flowers like glowing jewels against the deep green foliage. Or take 'Peach Blush' with a slight flush of pink. My own favorite is Dwarf Canna 'Apricot Ice' - the flowers have large golden stamens that really set off the soft apricot color. Massed, these colors are terrific all by themselves. But if I want drama I plant them with Castor beans - Ricinus communis 'Carmencita' has stunning purple foliage that really sets off the pastel oranges of these flowers - and is a knockout paired with the huge, melon orange blooms and tiger striped leaves of Canna 'Pretoria'.

Or, for a totally different look, pair those cannas (or their brighter orange flowered cousins) with white. A combo of orange flowered cannas and the feathery leaves and huge white plumes of Aruncus dioicus, which can rise to 5 feet tall, is a stunning sight. And against that feathery white, orange suddenly looks clean and very, very right.

So, don't automatically reject the idea of orange, just because for years the very color name caused people to wrinkle their noses in distaste. Used well - for drama and contrast, or as a streak of sunset in a mass of sunshine yellow, orange is new again. And I'm planting a ton of it!