Designing with Chocolate Foliage: Five Ways to Use Deep Brown Plants

1. Accent

A shapely plant like spiky-leafed phormium in rich chocolate hue becomes a dramatic focal point among low, mounding plants.

2. Backdrop

A hedge of deep brown foliage—Japanese barberry ‘Atropurpurea’—strikes a striking background for mass plantings like gloriosa daisies with knobby brown centers. Sunset zones A3, 2b-24.

3. Depth

Planted at the far end of a border with soft greens or pale colors in front, a pillowy dark shrub or grass creates a subtle sense of distance.

4. Contrast

Deep velvety brown foliage makes bright flowers—flaming red, lime green, golden yellow, cobalt blue—appear even more luminous.

5. Frame

A low fringe of brown foliage forms a distinctive edge for beds. Try Phormium tenax ‘Jack Spratt’ (zones 5-9, 14-24, H1, H2) with Million Bells Calibrachoa ‘Crackling Fire’ (zones 8, 9, 14-24; annual elsewhere).