Basic color theory will help when grouping flowers, foliage

Color is an important part of the planting-design tool kit. A blaze of color goes with our image of our gardens.

How do we create — and control — that vision?

The key to using color well is to start with a limited range of colors and repeat them throughout the design.

You don't have to stay with the same colors in the entire garden. Create vignettes — small sections of the garden that work with two harmonious colors, such as blue and yellow or pink and blue. Concentrating on one area at a time allows you to master color without being overwhelmed.

Your color palette should include both flowers and foliage. Flowers come and go, while leaves are with us all through the growing season, or, in the case of evergreens, throughout the year. Twigs and berries also add color, especially in the winter.

Repeat and echo

All art forms involve repetition and variation, and your planting design should, too. Repeat the color, but let it echo from one shape of flower to another and to leaves, stems and fruits.

Tips for designing with color


• Start with a simple color scheme.

• Provide unity by repeating the same color in different shapes of flowers and foliage throughout the design.

• Add colors that blend for a good background — green, purple-brown, gray, chartreuse and cream foliage.

• For a good book on using color well, see "Color Echoes, Harmonizing Color in the Garden," by Pamela J. Harper (Macmillan Publishing, 1994).

If you are working with yellow, start with a pale lemon daylily (Hemerocallis) and pick up the color in a nearby golden variegated Japanese sedge (Carex morrowii 'Aureovariegata'). If the daylily has a maroon throat, pick up that color with the foliage of dwarf purple barberry (Berberis thunbergii 'Crimson Pygmy').

Bulbs, shrubs and perennials bloom only for a short time, so plan for a succession of blooms by planting a variety. Spring-blooming pink tulips can be replaced in your composition by pink lilies flowering in midsummer.

Pink tulips will not be blooming at the same time as pink lilies. Use foliage plants to fill in the gaps, both in time and space. Green of course is a natural. Gray, purplish-brown, chartreuse and cream are good blending colors, too.

Many gray plants are low-water use and provide a variety of textures, including the filigree of Artemisia 'Powis Castle,' the spikes of blue oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens) and the wide, soft-as-velvet leaves of lamb's ears (Stachys byzantina).

Keep in mind the other aspects of gardening when you plant for color. Consider the growing conditions the plants need, and group them together accordingly.

The creamy yellow of variegated hosta may echo the yellow of golden yarrow, but the hosta will not like the sun as much as the yarrow will. Instead, repeat the yellow of the yarrow with a pale yellow rose in a sunny spot, and echo the yellow edged hosta with the flowers of Corydalis lutea, both happy in the shade.

One way to deal with color is to buy plants when they are in bloom. Chose two or three different plants with the same flower or leaf color and try them in different arrangements in your garden. If you bring them home when you have a lull in garden color, all the better to enliven the design.

Color theory

For a quick review of color theory, remember what we all learned in grade school: The three primary colors — red, blue and yellow — can be mixed to form the three secondary colors — green, orange and purple. Placed in a circle, they form the color wheel: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and back to red.

Now it gets a little more complicated. Colors form tones when one hue, or pure color, is added to another. Crimson is a tone that is mostly red with a little blue in it. Adding white to a color or tone forms a tint; adding black forms a shade. When you're creating color echoes, use tints or shades to repeat the main color to add variety.

Color theory can explain what we already sense but can't put our finger on. An example is that most people don't like orange and pink together. The reason is because two colors from adjacent sides of a pure color tend to clash. Orange is red mixed with yellow, while pink — a tint of red containing white — usually has just enough blue in it to make it jarring with orange. If you choose a peachy pink, with no blue but yellow in it, it will go with orange just fine.

Color in planting design leads in infinite directions. New gardeners can master it a step at time, while experienced gardeners will always pursue the next bright idea.

Phil Wood has a degree in landscape architecture and designs and builds gardens. Call 206-464-8533 or e-mail thegardendesigner@seattletimes.com with your questions. Sorry, no personal replies.