Blue

Blue is popular in the garden because of the beauty of blue flowers, the emotional effect, and perhaps because it is relatively rare in the plant world. This is true, of course, only of true or pure blue with not the faintest tinge of red or yellow. Pure blue is found in Chinese delphinium, alkanet (anchusa), browallia, leadwort, Salvia patens, lobelia, flax, and some of the cornflowers. Lighter true blues appear in forgetmenots, Delphinium formosum belladonna and coelestinum, and in the silvery blue of Salvia azurea. Most gardeners include all flowers that appear blue, the lavender-blues, gray-blues, and blue-violets. Red-violets, where the red begins to be dominant and the color verges toward magenta, and purple should not be classed as blue.

We like Mrs. Wilder's idea for blue in the garden: "And while I should most certainly gather all these blue flowers into one garden or even one border, I should plant them with scarlet and buff tulips, yellow and white iris, patches of Spanish poppies, groups of pale mulleins and fig-leaved hollyhocks, the delicate yellow of meadowrue (Thalictrum glaucum), geums, a few orange and scarlet lilies, gypsophila, valerian, Orange King snapdragon, pale calendulas, torch-lilies (Kniphofia), montbretias, and other plants of brave coloring."

Analogous harmonies based on blue are easy to arrange because dark and light blues provide sufficient contrast. With them use the adjacent hues, violet and turquoise. Blue, contrasted with yellow or orange of the same chroma, is strong and bold, but such combinations must be used sparingly. Yellow is better with blue-violet, whereas orange is better with greenish peacock blues. Soft yellow, creamy white, rose-pink, flame-pink, and soft orange-red are all effective with any blue because they preserve its brilliance and deepen it by contrast. (Plate 17.)

The following list includes both true blues and closely related reddish and greenish hues.

Contents

• Color Accent - Color accent groups along a border produce movement, rhythm, and sequence. They carry the eye along to the climactic point.
• Color Placement - Color, for any given season, should never be concentrated in any one bed or border to the exclusion of others.
• Color Schemes - Since we discourage the use of restrictive and complex color schemes, we will offer other reasonable solutions. The two methods that follow have been found in actual practice to produce satisfactory gardens.
• Blue - Analogous harmonies based on blue are easy to arrange because dark and light blues provide sufficient contrast. Blue, contrasted with yellow or orange of the same chroma, is strong and bold, but such combinations must be used sparingly.
• Violet, Purple, and Magenta - These hues lie between blue and red and are most difficult to use effectively. Long considered symbols of loyalty, they bring dignity to the garden.
• Red, and Its Place - Red, and the closely associated hues of crimson, scarlet, and red-orange can be important in a garden composition. Too often they are omitted altogether, but they are a means of securing greater distinction and a desirable warmth.
• Pink, a Tint of Red - Here is a color that is not a primary, as is sometimes supposed, but a tint of red that varies according to the amount of white it contains. There are deep strong pinks (rose), or pale weak ones.
• Orange, Warm and Luminous - Orange imparts even more brilliance and warmth to borders than red and closely related scarlet. Orange is one of the vital hues.
• Yellow for Light and Life - Yellow and white are always pleasing together and there is a fresh simplicity in their use. Another strong contrast may be had from strong yellow with strong blue, or even with difficult purple.
• White, the Fifth Primary - You might think white would be the simplest of colors to use in the garden, yet this is not the case. White, improperly placed, or in poor proportion causes unsatisfactory compositions.
• Green, the Sixth Primary - The urge for riots of color in all parts of the garden at all times makes us overlook green. Such neglect not only impairs the true effectiveness of color compositions, but also robs the garden of more permanent beauty.
• Gray and Silvery Foliage - Gray-foliaged plants are more effective with light-tinted flowers, soft lavenders, mauve, pale yellow, buff, and soft pinks. But they are also good with strong colors.
• Color in the Garden - Color should be used to provide accent and emphasis, balance, repetition and rhythm, sequence, and climax. These are more helpful in the development of a pleasing garden than all the subtle, close, color harmonies that ever were attempted.

See Also

• Next Page: Violet, Purple, and Magenta
• Return from Blue to: Landscape-Guide Home

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