The Problem with Primaries

You might think that designing a garden with just primary colors would be a good, safe choice.  It turns out that it isn't safe, it is just dull.  I painted an abstract design to demonstrate the limitations of using only primary colors (red, blue, yellow), and how to modify them to create a dynamic color scheme.

Here is a section of my painting with just yellow and blue.  There is nothing that links the colors together, save the bit of green where the paints mixed a bit.  There is no relationship.

This next picture shows the whole painting.  Even though the colors still have no relationship to each other, there is a strong light/dark design.

This use of Notan makes the design better than the first image because it is interesting.  The light value (yellow) is well balanced with the dark value (blue).  There is flow, too.

This design can be made even more interesting by modifying one of the colors.  In this case, I added some blue and red to the yellow to create a yellow ochre.  The yellow sections now have both a primary yellow and a yellow ochre.

The primary blue was modified by adding some yellow and red.




Because a garden has lots of green, the problem with primaries is lessened.  The green removes the monotony of the primary color scheme because it links the primaries.

The yellow ochre in the last picture bridges the primary yellow and the primary blue.  It helps your eye make sense of the picture because it creates a relationship between the primary hues.

The primary blue was also changed.  Whenever you are dealing with color, decide what the dominant color is going to be.  I chose yellow.  I subordinated the blue to the yellow by giving it some "yellow" qualities.  The blue now has a faint green quality to it (without actually being green).

  

Chrysanthemums

Every fall chrysanthemums arrive at the local garden center and take over.  I don't care for most of them.  The colors tend to be garish.  If they are not placed properly in a garden they distract the eye because that is all the eye goes to.  They remain stiff until they turn brown and die.  I have no problem with bringing them inside to introduce seasonal color, or to having them on a patio or porch.

It is a shame that most people associate chrysanthemums with the artificial-looking plants sold widely throughout the fall.  I do not know enough about Asian horticultural practices, but I do know that many types of chrysanthemums were used.  Flowers often had long, elegant petals. 

My garden has one long-lived, inelegant chrysanthemum that I value throughout the growing season.  It was placed years ago in the front of one of my borders.  Throughout the spring and summer it has a solid, satisfying shape.  Even though it is relatively small, it anchors the garden.  If I were to anthropomorphize it, I would call it "steadfast".  

Now that it is blooming, one of its other stellar qualities emerges - it looks good in the fall sun.  Many plants look best in the summer sun, when the angle of the rays is steeper at noon than in the fall.  The shallow angle of the fall sun promotes glare.  It is quite difficult to see plants on a sunny day - the sunlight bouncing off most leaves is almost blinding.  The chrysanthemum is easily visible in the fall sun because the flower and leaf have a matte texture.  Many summer-loving plants have shiny leaves and flowers.  I strongly recommend this plant for the front of a sunny border.