WHAT COLOR IS YOUR GARDEN?

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By Joan Johnson

The color wheel, based on the three primary colors of red, yellow, and blue, is a gardener’s best friend when planning a garden. When two of the primary colors are combined, they create a secondary color. A full color wheel resembles a rainbow, with red, orange and yellow, called warm colors. Green, blue and violet are known as the cool colors. Green is a neutral color, making foliage a wonderful base for any color flower. Although foliage is usually green, it can also be yellow, red, blue, silver and more. Bark, buds, and fruit also contribute color and visual texture.

Carry your color wheel with you when touring different gardens, so you can admire and understand the different color schemes. At the nursery, set pots of flowers together using the colors you like. Plant shrubs and trees in the garden to draw the eye up and back from the front of the garden.

A monochromatic garden, (using one color), is an easy way to start. Use many different shades of one color that you particularly like. For example, purple gardens can include everything from pale lavender to a blackish purple. Red color schemes for gardens range from palest pink to firehouse red. In this garden, pale pinks seem appropriate during spring. In high summer, red roses can emulate July 4th fireworks.

There are numerous color combinations you can work with. Complementary colors are those opposite one another on the color wheel, like purple and yellow. Analogous colors are those next to one another on the wheel. Combined they can create a lovely flow of color such as yellow to orange to red.

When you have selected your gardens’ color scheme, you want to start your plan with perennials, selecting plants based on bloom time. Plant at least 3 – 5 plants of the same variety and repeat groupings throughout the border or bed for cohesiveness and to draw the eye along. Notice how artists use their brush to paint swaths of color when rendering gardens. Consider native perennials, shrubs and trees hardy in our zone. Once established, they are easy to care for, and not to mention beautiful. Rutgers University Fact Sheet 1140: Incorporating Native Plants into your Residential Landscape can provide guidance.

When the beautifully colored centers of attention you have created begin to fade, and colorless spots appear, fill them in with annuals. Most annuals have a long blooming season, are inexpensive and readily available throughout the year.

Remember, there is no right or wrong in “coloring your garden” as long as it pleases you.

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