Gardening Tip:
Color
Color is one of the most exciting aspects of any garden. Your garden may bloom in every color of the rainbow…or just one or two. But before you start mixing colors, let’s review the basics of color theory. Warm colors, such as the reds and yellows of tulips and narcissus, seem to “pop” toward the front of a landscape, while cool colors, like the hues of purple violets or blue iris, recede into the background. Neutral colors, such as grey and brown, go with everything and help to unify competing colors. In the garden green also works as a neutral color.
Mixing opposite colors, such as red and green or yellow and violet, makes each color stand out even more, while combining colors from the same “family,” such as blue and green or yellow and orange, makes a more harmonious color scheme.
Experiment with colors by cutting a few pictures out of garden catalogs and rearranging them. To help tie different sections together, repeat a few colors throughout the garden. Try cool colors with a few sparks of warm colors, or warm colors with a few cool colors. Multicolored flowers can also give you a few clues about mixing colors. After all, who knows better than Mother Nature?
Whatever color scheme you decide upon, it’s important to plant in masses of color. In other words, plant each flower in groups of at least three. Otherwise, the different colors may not have much impact.