Lanterns and clematis

Today's the day ........................... to colour coordinate

We went to a lovely garden today at Old Allangrange on the Black Isle near Inverness - open to the public as part of the Scotland's Gardens scheme.  It's always a treat to visit someone's normally private garden and see what sort of inventive planting they have thought of.  I loved the colours of the purple alliums growing up through the red cotinus (I think?!) as shown below.  There were lots of good ideas to be had - and hopefully copied into the new beds that we have in our garden.

But you don't have to go far from home to find beautiful combinations in the garden.  This is Clematis montana var. Elizabeth intertwined with the red lanterns of Crinodendron hookerianum  or the Chilean lantern tree - growing in brother Ron and Margaret's garden.  The lantern tree must have been planted in the garden many years ago because it really is quite substantial now.

An unusual combination of plants - just made for each other .......................