Just as Picasso had his blue period, our garden has its Yellow Period. Actually, there’s an Early and a Late Yellow Period. The Early Yellow Period starts in late July and is defined by 3 plants I refer to as the Jolly Yellow Giants.
I’ve written recently about Yellow Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata), the shortest of the Jolly Giants at about 5′ tall. The middle-sized Giant grows 7-8′ in our garden and is known as Golden Glow or Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata).
You can see how R. laciniata got the common name Golden Glow.
Aside from being taller than Yellow Coneflower, Cutleaf Coneflower has wider rays colored a deeper hue. Instead of flopping down, these rays are held away from the stem. Plus, the disc flowers of the central cone ripen to yellow rather than brown (remember the Russian fur hats?).
The tallest of the three giants is Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum), which grows to about 10′ in our garden.
Both Cutleaf Coneflower and Cup Plant go nicely with Wild Bergamot. They bloom together and have nicely contrasting colors and habits.
Here’s a picture taken from the driveway will all 3 of the Jolly Yellow Giants blooming together.
And here’s a picture taken from the sidewalk. This makes it more clear that the Yellow Coneflower and Cutleaf Coneflower are in the Driveway Border, while the Cup Plant stands at the back of the Front Island Bed.
The Late Yellow Period starts in August and features the blooms of Orange Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida) and Brown Eyed Susan (R. triloba).
I sometimes wonder if I’ve got too much yellow in July and August. However, the yellow is really concentrated in the Driveway Border and (during the Late Yellow Period) the Parkway Bed. . If you look at the Front Garden as a whole, the other beds and borders provide sufficient contrasting colors in summer. At least, that’s what I think at the moment.
gardeninacity 
Never too much yellow! Such a jaunty color.
It is! 💛
Very true.
Yellow is so cheerful, you can’t have too much!
Makes me feel better that you think so!
Yellow is quintessential summer and every garden should have some, or, a lot!
I was just hiking in a local nature center and it was full of yellow, so it’s hard to argue with your point.
Too much yellow??? How could that be? I don’t think so. The forms are a bit different. They make you look them over. I do have a question. I have read that Cup Plant is very aggressive. Have you had yours very long and do you find you have to get after it all the time to keep it in control?
I have also heard people say that Cup Plant is very aggressive. That has really not been my experience.
Yellow never was a favorite of mine, although it is better than purple, (ick!). However, my neighbors preferred yellow and orange for the old home in town, because it was painted a harvest gold, which also was not my favorite color. It was cool to work with a color that I never would have considered working with.
See now, I like yellow AND purple. The color I like least is pink, but sometimes pink is good also.
Yellow and purple is daring! I envy those who can select interesting colors. I have never been good at that. Pink is the most common color among our crops. Purple is popular, but there are not as many purple rhododendrons. There are only a few that are yellow, and they are neither as colorful nor as reliable as the other types.
The garden looks very natural at this stage, and pleasing to the eye.
Thank you! That’s very gratifying to hear.
I’m impressed by the Cup Plant….what a stem to stand so straight!
To be honest, it gets a little help from me.
Your displays are magnificent. Do you have to water your plants? Amelia
Generally I don’t. Most of them have very deep roots and are adapted to periods of drought.
I choose all my plants to be drought-resistant but nevertheless there are limits and I water new plants during the first two summers.
The yellows lighten up the back of the plantings and make it feel joyful.
I think so, too.
I think of yellow and purple as summer/late summer colors because so many of our natives combine that way: goldenrod and beautyberry, for example. I really like that first photo of the cup plant. It’s so dramatic — I didn’t realize it would grow that tall.
Here they are a fall combination – goldenrod and asters, most frequently.
I think I have something yellow blooming almost all season long, starting with daffodils. Yellow is such a cheery color, goes well with everything in the garden.
Well said.
What fabulously big, bold plants–and they are herbaceous and vanish in winter? That must be fun. In my climate, big stays big and gets even bigger. Temporary big sounds great. Not many plants will do that here–Cannas would be one.
Lots of yellow in my garden–not my favorite color, but they do so well. Better a healthy plant than one of a choice color that fails. .
Yes, they all die back in winter and grow from the ground in spring.
Love the mix of yellow, white and orange in the last photo! Can’t have enough yellow in the garden, especially this time of year, IMHO.
Well, that’s good, because there is plenty of it!
The height of your plants amazes me every year! They really make a great show and I don‘t think there is too much yellow at all. 😃
There is something about really tall plants that I find very satisfying.
All three jolly yellow giants are mighty impressive. How can anyone have too much yellow when they look like that?
??xxx
Very good point.
I was impressed and reminisced about the coneflower I had seen in the mountains several times.
The bush is impressive!.
Greetings from Indonesia.
Curious to see your mountain coneflower.
The yellow is a celebration of summer. I don’t have much in the GA garden, but CT was always yellow. Also the purple showed in late summer…I didn’t like that “Easter” combo at that time of year, the the garden thought otherwise. Haaha
I guess all the yellow flowers in summer is more of a northern phenomenon?
10′ tall…OMG, that’s impressive, especially since they don’t collapse. It’s a lovely look at the front garden. I find the dark center of those cheerful flowers echoes perfectly the black in the house color.
They would be leaning pretty far if they didn’t have some assistance.