Creating Contrast With Dark Plants

Freya Martin

Editions

Review

For gardeners of a ghoulish disposition I recommend two books which I have been using very much in tandem.  The author of Black Magic & Purple Passion: A Comprehensive Guide To Dark Foliage And Dark-Flowered Plants runs a nursery specialising in plants with dark foliage and flowers and there is a great amount of very useful information in there pages including details of new varieties just released to the market.

Creating Contrast With Dark Plants is the glossier of the two and while it too has a directory of these gothic gems, its strength lies in planting suggestions and associations to help us garden effectively with these tricky treasures which have to be carefully presented.

Obviously there is something about black flowers which grabs gardening girls.  There’s an interesting website set up by one Alice Day, mAlice [geddit?] www.gothic.net/~malice/index.html which is well worth a browse. - review by Stewart Grimshaw