Dahlia

Viva Magenta! How to incorporate Pantone’s 2023 Colour of the Year into your garden

The Pantone Colour of the Year is an important benchmark in the world of fashion, design and the home. This year, the colour on everyone’s lips is Viva Magenta, a crimson red tone that presents a balance between warm and cool, whilst encouraging optimism in unconventional times.  In this blog, we look at ways to bring this bold hue into your garden over the next few months.

At first glance, Viva Magenta might seem a little intimidating, but the pinky-red hue has been chosen to represent our love for nature so where better to experiment than in the garden or your outdoor space? It is well known that bright colours bring joy and happiness to a person and help to alleviate negative feelings.  Combined with the positive effects of gardening, having magenta outdoors will give you a natural "high," with its uplifting properties.

Dianthus

One of our favourite magenta plants is simply named "pinks” or Dianthus.  With its compact foliage and serrated pink petals, it is a popular plant to line pathways or place in pots and has a very sweet scent. This compact hardy annual is loved by pollinators and flowers from late spring to autumn. We also love pelargoniums which produce attractive dark magenta flowers, (as well as other colours) which are fit for the 2023 Pantone colour trend and will also appeal to wildlife lovers who want to bring beneficial insects to the garden.

There are a host of plants that come in magenta, including phlox, roses, peonies, Astrantia, dahlias, lupins, petunia, verbena and echinacea.  Plant in containers or borders with neutral shades in red for impact.  A flash of magenta will really complement wooden fences, rocks, stone walls and natural patina pots. Throw in a dash of light blush pink and you have the perfect cottage garden.

Dahlia
Peony
Phlox
Pelargoniums

Pair your magenta blooms with silver foliage for the ultimate colour pop.  They will also work well with white flowers and lilac plants such as lavender. For a woodland look, why not pair your magenta with green ferns to feel like a true nature walk? Ornamental grasses in your planting beds will also make the magenta striking, whilst also achieving a prairie look. Alternatively, why not go all out with big and bold colours by mixing them with other bright shades, such as lime green or cobalt blue?

You can also bring your magenta garden indoors to accent a room in your home. Windowsills are a great and often overlooked spot in the home.  By simply placing a white vase filled with magenta dahlias or peonies on your windowsill is an easy yet impactful way of creating a striking interior centrepiece using the colour of the year.

Thank you for reading.