A jolt of crazy colour is an unexpected and inexpensive way to make your garden pop.

CHEAP TRICK | A Vancouver architect friend of mine has a sideline as a garden photographer, and not long ago he grumbled to me that one of the magazines he works for in the U.S. never puts his photographs on their cover. “I take great plant portraits,” he said, “but unless I am willing to include a brightly coloured chair in my shots, not one of them will ever make it.” That’s because art directors know the swiftest way to catch the attention of gardeners cruising the magazine racks is to hit them with a jolt of unexpected colour. Read more