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Tall Black and Green Plants

I have just discovered Piet Oudolf and grasses. I want to try it out in a small way but I need some black and/or  green plants that reach over 1 m as they need to reach above the grasses.  Any ideas ?
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  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I’ve got these, buy one plant  you can chop it up for cuttings, roots very easily. 
    https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/81577/Salvia-guaranitica-Black-and-Blue/Details

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Dark leaved dahlias - Twynings After Eight is a good, tall one, or dark leaved Pittosporum,  perhaps?
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Canna come in dark shades 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,569
    If you have room for shrubs, a dark-leaved elder (Sambucus niger "Black Lace" or "Black Beauty" ) might work.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Balgay.HillBalgay.Hill Posts: 1,089
    Physocarpus 'Midnight'?
    Sunny Dundee
  • KeenOnGreenKeenOnGreen Posts: 1,831
    Have you seen a photo of an Oudolf garden that had the kind of plants you want?  Perhaps some of us can help identify them.  He normally uses perennials mixed with grasses, rather than shrubs, so if you want a similar look, then it's probably best to choose perennials.  
  • Have you seen a photo of an Oudolf garden that had the kind of plants you want?  Perhaps some of us can help identify them.  He normally uses perennials mixed with grasses, rather than shrubs, so if you want a similar look, then it's probably best to choose perennials.  

    I was recently introduced to his gardens and they are brilliant  I have nothing like the space to experiment with great swathes of grasses so need to limit myself to just two or three  plants plus grasses in the space I have

    If I can get help in  identifying some I can then choose a few to use myself.  I have taken a couple of the suggestions already made but anything from Garden 5 and 6 Repeat a Theme and Matrix Planting in this article would be a help

    https://www.gardenista.com/posts/10-garden-ideas-to-steal-from-superstar-dutch-designer-piet-oudolf/   




  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,569
    Dark-flowered scabious might work (Black Knight, Chile Black etc, check out the heights and see if there's one that would be right).
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Oudolf often uses Eupatorium ... E. rugosum ‘Chocolate’
    ought to work well 
    https://www.burncoose.co.uk/site/plants.cfm?pl_id=5265



    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • KeenOnGreenKeenOnGreen Posts: 1,831
    If that's the same as Ageratina Chocolate @Dovefromabove it's a lovely plant.  We've had one for years.  They sulk a bit if they don't get enough water, but the foliage colour is lovely, with tiny white flowers later in the Autumn.

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