Hi, ignorant question probably but I've a slightly raised deck with two borders I'd like to plant round with 1.5-2m high shrubs. I'm thinking of 4 different plants to maintain mostly year round flowering. Berberis darwinii, Forsythia lynwood variety, hebe midsummer beauty and escallonia apple blossom. I was thinking of planting escallonia (pink flowers) next to forsythia (yellow) on one side and then hebe (purple) next to berberis (yellow) on the other. Questions are would this look odd (different colour flowers mixed together) and if not would you plant abababa or aaaabbbbb. Many thanks.
Different shrubs in row
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How long and wide are the beds?
About 4.5m long and 50cm depth. I wasn't really going to plant anything else in there. Just a finish/screen for the deck.
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That's a fairly narrow planter. I suggest using plants that grow more vertically. Otherwise you will have to trim them a lot to keep them in bounds. Unless there is plenty of room in front of them to allow them to grow wider.
Mixing flower colors doesn’t have to look odd; it can actually add some nice variety. The "ababab" pattern with alternating colors will keep things looking natural and dynamic, rather than too stiff.