Each year Pantone names its Color of the Year. Pantone produces a line of color-matching products that are invaluable to graphic designers and others who have to get colors just right. In the recent past, the Color of the Year has included Marsala, Radiant Orchid, Greenery and Tangerine Tango.

This year’s color is called Living Coral (that’s the swatch over to the side), and it does have the coral color seen in many begonias, amarylises and other tropical-ish flowers. (It may be my computer monitor is a bit funky, but it also looks something like Tangerine Tango from a few years ago. It is definitely orangish.)

Color trends affect gardening, but not to the same degree they influence home decor and clothing. You will no doubt be seeing more coral blouses and curtains in 2019 than you did a few years ago.

But where will Living Coral show up in the garden? A quick Google tour of the term “garden accessories” shows the color appearing in objects such as outdoor rugs, upholstered patio furniture and pots and containers. It’s not everywhere (there’s a lot of turquoise out there!) but you can find a nice looking coral couch for your patio, if you want one.

This color, though, may show up more in plants, especially blooms. Proven Winners, for example, is introducing a new Huechera called Primo® Peachberry that has a coral look to the leaves. It also has a new coleus called Sedona Sunset that has a coral tone to it, though maybe too orange to be exactly called coral. Our friends over at Monrovia offered a beautiful coral ground cover rose in 2018. It’s a zone 5 plant, but if you can push the zone a bit, what a beauty. Coral has long been a popular color with petunias, zinnias and other summer annuals.

Will you be incorporating Living Coral in your gardens in 2019?