Home » Plants & Animals » Virtual Gardening » Coloring my Garden Mood - Page 2

Coloring my Garden Mood - Page 2

© Carol Wallace

My raised bed garden also uses a lot of white, both in variegated foliage and flowers. If it's too hot to sit in the blazing sun, at dusk, when the sun drops below the horizon, it is a cool and comfortable place to sip coffee and watch the white take on an almost unearthly glow. Color me peaceful.

But there is another reason besides mood and temperature to be careful with color. Color also alters our perception of space. Cool colors recede, warm colors jump forward. A garden of misty blues and lavender appear to fade off into the horizon, and can make a small space seem roomier. The same area, planted in hot reds, could make you feel claustrophobic. On the other hand, those same reds and bright yellows will help to brighten a shady corner where subtler pastels would fade into oblivion. Hot colors are wonderful if yours is a garden you will view more often from a distance than from close-up. Use cool colors in that situation and you'll wonder where the garden went.

Use color with care and we'll be able to color you satisfied.

Here's A Whole Palette of Colorful Expressions that will help explain why colors have the influences they have.
Finally, from the Internet Garden is a page on using color in your borders.

Got a question or a comment? Click here and just type it in the blank box this link takes you to and press "post new discussion."

Play Floral Detective and read the first Suite 101 interactive mystery, written by its members and editors. Details here.

Virtually Gardening is just one of the 31 different gardening topics you can visit here on Suite 101, covering everything from amaryllis to zucchini.

The copyright of the article Coloring my Garden Mood - Page 2 in Virtual Gardening is owned by . Permission to republish Coloring my Garden Mood - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.