Pantone's Very Peri, Courtesy of Ageratum

Award shows and red carpet events… whether or not they go off without a hitch, these are ways for us to give recognition.

To think that colors get recognized on a yearly basis, as is the case for the Pantone colors, is rather amazing. But each time I hear about the Pantone Color of the Year, I get inspired either to introduce a particular color to my garden, or pump it up if it is one I already have in play. Gardeners typically love to experiment with color. Forcing oneself to work with a color that others have chosen is a nice exercise that can result in some great gardenscapes.

This year’s Pantone Color of the Year, Very Peri, is an attractive periwinkle blue. It is not a common color, but it is very possible to incorporate it into the garden. Very Peri is a pretty good match with Blue Star Creeper and some fragrant varieties of blue Iris. It is even closer to the color of certain Bluebells. But I venture to say that its best match is Ageratum, or Floss Flower, and specifically the variety called ‘Aloha Blue’.

Floss flower was always a favorite of my family at Memorial Day, when it would stretch to become a stand-in for the blue of the flag in patriotic arrangements. But that was an incredible stretch. Most Ageratum is far more violet-toned than would be called for in honoring the flag. Even more than in container plantings, that attractive periwinkle is a color I have grown to love when it is planted directly into garden beds.

There is tall Ageratum, which serves gardeners well in cutting gardens and for attracting pollinators. Tall Ageratum grows to between two and three feet and shows off clusters of fluffy disks of color—Very Peri, in most cases—near the tops of graceful stems. This is annual Ageratum on a towering scale. Then there is Conoclinium coelestinum, more commonly called Blue mistflower. This is a tall perennial in the Aster family. Though a tall Floss Flower look-alike, for sure, Blue mistflower spreads to the point of being invasive, and so it is not appropriate for all garden areas.

So this year, for my addition of Very Peri to my garden beds, I plan to use the lower-growing variety of Ageratum in ‘Aloha Blue’. It will serve as a compact plant in borders and as a colorful filler. Planting enough of this foot-tall beauty in clusters will allow me to obtain a blanketed look early on, in the Pantone Color of the Year, no less.

Those who engage in miniature gardening have long loved Ageratum ‘Aloha Blue’ for its qualities which make it look like a Lilliputian mophead Hydrangea. Those who plant mixed baskets of annuals have long loved this variety for the dose of calming color it can give when mixed with other flowers. And I have long loved the fuzzy, velvet-topped appeal that Ageratum, when planted en masse, has in the garden.

Ageratum is not completely self-cleaning. Especially when it dries out a bit too much, the greenery revives itself with the next watering, but the spent flower heads become browned and must be pinched off. But aside from that, and a periodic need for more significant trimming, there is not much tending required to keep a mass of Ageratum plants looking good. Ageratum can make a home in a variety of soils and do well.

Now, even without Pantone’s recognition of Very Peri, I must admit I would still be planting Ageratum as the season opens. For several years now, I have enjoyed the “feel” that the periwinkle color gives to the garden: It cools things off and has a soft elegance. But knowing Very Peri is the Pantone Color of the Year, I will play it up even more. A fun exercise, made easy by ever-pleasing Ageratum.