“I don’t ruffle,” says Diane Shaub, Gardens director at the Central Park Conservancy. We stand under the shade of the old magnolias in English Garden, one of three small gardens in the six-acre conservatory garden in Central Park, near the northeast corner of the park. Having received his diploma from the New York Botanical Gardens Professional Horticultural School, Shaub has curated conservatory gardens for over 30 years. And although she doesn’t ruffle, she takes her breath away with the colour and texture. She has a painter’s eyes on composition and an architect’s instinct for structural details.
Below, she shares her best color combinations on her autumn garden bed.
Photo by Marie Virjon of Gardensta.
Burgundy + Green
Above: “This is as frills as I go,” she clarifies, showing a velvet-leaf plant with burgundy leaves next to the bluestone pass. The plant in question is Solenostemon (formerly classified as Coles), and the cultivar is “Lancelot”. Above: Solenostemon ‘Lancelot’ (combined with Salvia ‘Paul’) belongs to a lush, age-old crew that is dramatically felt in this garden. Seasonal views place a great burden on plants that are interested in their leaves.
Purple + Yellow + Blue
Top: If you find the leaves boring, think again. Solenostemon ‘Purple Prince’, Black-Leafed Dahlia ‘Mystic Illusion’, and Salvia farinacea ‘Victoria Blue’.
Above: Pennisetum Setaceum ‘Rubrum’, Salvia X ‘Indigo Spiers’, Leafy cleft Strobilantes dyeranus, and Colocacia Escalenta “Blue Hawaii” beds with elephant ears. The latter “makes the entire configuration work,” says Shaub. Dark purple penisetam “dizziness” is in the background. Above: The English Garden is located in a bed radiated from the central pond in the overhang by Central Park’s largest crabapple tree and is now turning yellow. Designed by Betty Sprout and opened in 1937, this part of the park was considered one of New York City’s most dangerous places by the 1970s. In 1980, the Central Park Conservancy was formed in response to the neglect that the park had suffered over the past 20 years. Its founding director, Elizabeth Rogers, was designated Conservatory Gardens for renovations.
