The 2026 Garden Colour Trends

What is the Pantone Colour of the Year?

To be quite honest with you, I didn't know that a Pantone Colour of the Year existed, which in retrospect is a bit amazing and affirming of the question I often receive from friends and family: "Do you live under a rock?" Because if you think about it, of course there's a Colour of the Year! Each season there are popular colours in clothing and design. Suddenly everything is lilac or royal blue, and it's not by chance, someone decides these things. A huge factor in these trends is Pantone. Each year, Pantone picks a Colour of the Year that aims to capture the global mood. The colour influences fashion, design, and beauty trends, including garden design. For the first time ever, they chose a white, Cloud Dancer White to be specific.

What’s the Big Deal?

Cloud Dancer White is the first time Pantone has ever chosen a shade of white as the Colour of the Year. It is a soft, elegant, calming white. And why does this particular white reflect the collective consciousness of the world at this moment in time? Pantone calls this colour “a whisper of calm in a noisy world” and “a conscious statement of simplification,” which I would agree seems quite fitting, as life does feel particularly chaotic these days. I’m not sure about you, but it’s nice to know I’m not alone in this sentiment, Pantone feels it too.

How Can We Use Cloud Dancer as Gardeners?

White leaves a lot of room for creativity. It allows for both minimalism and the opportunity for other colours to shine. While I love funky bursts of colour, a big garden trend this year is white and green, especially in planters, but it also creates an elegant, classy aesthetic in garden beds. This combination draws attention to the different textures of the foliage, as there is no strong colour to distract. It allows the variegated leaves of trailing vines such as tradescantia to shine, or the lacy texture created by the asparagus fern’s needles to be appreciated as more than a backdrop for showstopping blooms.

But we do still love showstopping blooms. Perhaps the best example of Cloud Dancer White in flower form is the Cosmos Sonata White. Fortunately for all of us who love colour, white combines perfectly with any colour. White and lilac, white and red (a patriotic combination), white and blue, white and yellow. Need I go on? There are however, some combinations that are a bit trendier this season: white and lilac, white and light blue, and white with rusty reds, oranges, and browns.