Yellow for Light and Life

Blue may be important and popular, but yellow is more important, for yellow is luminous and its closely related hues give vitality and warmth to all compositions. Yellow is always gay. Hues vary from strong, deep primary yellow to clear orange-yellow on one side, and yellowish-greens on the other. There is wide choice of chroma, and numerous shades and tints of each variation of hue.

For the best effects, match chroma for chroma. For example, use strong, clear yellow with strong, clear blue, or pale straw-yellow with pale pink or pale blue. When strong yellow is used with weaker tints, it steals attention and destroys the delicacy of the lighter color. An exception occurs when pale lemon and creamy yellows are used in various combinations to subdue or blend stronger colors. The tints of yellow do not create such striking contrast as to look spotty or destroy unity.

Mrs. Wilder liked yellow flowers in full sunshine. "They seem to gather glow from the sun and seldom bleach or shrivel before its warmth as do many blue and scarlet flowers. I am not fond of gardens or borders devoted to one color, but if ever I were tempted to make one it would be yellow in all the frank and pleasant tones from cream and buff and the bright butter yellows through apricot to the tawny ocherous shades, reaching now and then to flame."

Yellow is abundant through the garden year. The colors of spring are yellow and white. Various mulleins, evening primroses, rudbeckia, and several lilies, as well as many annuals bring midsummer yellows, and the autumn picture is gay with many yellow chrysanthemums. (Plate 22a.)

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, but strong yellow should not be used with magenta or red-purple. Pale creamy or straw yellow is better here. Strong yellow does not look well with pink or lavender. Even though yellow is frequent in the flower world, it has to be used thoughtfully. One friend writes that yellow is the one color that causes havoc in her garden, and many feel that median yellow is too garish. This is not necessarily true if yellow is properly placed. It does create strong accent with white, blue, or red, but not disharmony. These accents are merely on the strident side and should be used sparingly for particular effect. Often yellow will bring sparkle to schemes in which delicate shades of blue, pink, and lavender predominate. In compositions that appear heavy or cold, a touch of yellow will bring out other colors and add warmth and cheer. (Plate 22b.)

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: White, the Fifth Frimary
• Return from Yellow for Light and Life to: Landscape-Guide Home

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