The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has unveiled its list of plants to match the Pantone Institute’s Colour of the Year 2026.
Revealing the shade ‘Cloud Dancer’ (PANTONE 11-4201) as the chosen colour for 2026, Pantone describes the calming shade of white as ‘a shade that can adapt, harmonise, and create contrast, bringing a feeling of airy lightness to all product applications and environments.’
Thanks to its versatility and gentle neutrality, ‘Cloud Dancer’ can act as a perfect blank canvas in gardens, introducing a calming splash of serenity, or complementing a vast range of other colours.
The soft airiness of ‘Cloud Dancer’ can be identified throughout nature, with curators at the RHS Herbarium compiling a list of the top plants matching the shade. The RHS Colour Chart is a standardised referencing system of 920 shades found within the natural world. As well as being widely used throughout the horticultural industry to accurately identify and document plant colours, its use has also extended into other industries including food, fashion, and cosmetics.
Identifying ‘Cloud Dancer’ as a match for the shade NN155C in the RHS Colour Chart, below are some of the plants that the RHS suggests incorporating in the garden to enjoy the calming influence of ‘Cloud Dancer’ throughout 2026 and beyond:
- Galanthus × hybridus 'Robin Hood': Also known as the hybrid snowdrop ‘Robin Hood’, this clump-forming plant will bring a graceful touch of ‘Cloud Dancer’ to winter gardens. Reaching up to 50cm and blooming between January and February, this snowdrop brings beauty to the garden during the coldest months.
- Tulipa 'White Dream': This beautiful tulip, with its pure white, goblet-shaped petals, will add a touch of ‘Cloud Dancer’ serenity to the garden whilst also complementing a wide range of different colours due to its versatility. Flowering in late spring and reaching a height of around 40cm, this is a great choice for borders, beds, or containers.
- Dianthus 'Devon Dove': A bushy perennial with grey foliage and upright stems reaching heights of up to 45cm, the soft white, fragrant petals of this Dianthus will bring delicate airiness to gardens as it flowers between early and mid-summer.
- Daphne 'Spring Herald': Amongst glossy green leaves, this bushy evergreen shrub brings early seasonal beauty and fragrance as clusters of creamy white flowers appear between late winter and early spring.
- Veronica 'Wiri Mist': A compact evergreen shrub with glossy green leaves, the freshness of ‘Cloud Dancer’ bursts into life as masses of white flowers bloom from late spring into summer. This low-maintenance plant is a perfect option for growing in city gardens and flower borders and beds.
- Clematis cartmanii 'Joe': A compact trailing or evergreen climber, this clematis flowers in early spring to reveal clusters of bowl-shaped white flowers. A strong choice for container planting, it thrives in full sun to partial shade.
- Hosta 'Vulcan': A clump-forming perennial with deep green leaves and soft white streak in their centre. Blooming into pale lavender flowers in the mid-summer, this Hosta embodies the versatility of ‘Cloud Dancer’ to complement other natural shades.
- Salvia pratensis 'Swan Lake' (Ballet Series): A compact, clump-forming perennial that reaches up to 50cm tall. Amongst grey-green leaves, pure white flowers bloom in summer, and again in the autumn if they are cut back halfway through the first flowering period.
- Viburnum plicatum f. plicatum 'Grandiflorum': Also called the Japanese snowball ‘Grandiflorum’, this bushy deciduous shrub has strongly veined leaves and large globular clusters of white flowers which turn pink with age. A low-maintenance plant well suited to planting in beds and borders.
- Camellia japonica 'Alba Plena': An evergreen shrub with glossy green foliage, the white, formal double flowers of ‘Alba Plena’ are reminiscent of the understated beauty of the ‘Cloud Dancer’ shade.
Yvette Harvey, Keeper of the Herbarium at RHS Garden Wisley, said: “The choice of plants matching 'Cloud Dancer' encompasses all seasons. Few things beat the wonder of seeing snowdrops carpeting the ground on a frosty morning, or even peeping through the snow, and there is something about white flowers and intoxicating perfumes, from the promise of spring provided by daphnes to exploring the garden on a warm and balmy summer evening, picking up the heady aroma of jasmine, roses and Phlox.”
