Backyard Art Class

CREATIVITY SPECIAL | by DEBRA PRINZING

COLOR CAN ENERGIZE ANY SPOT IN THE GARDEN that may need resuscitation. Whether you make intentional choices based on the exterior of your house or let your garden muse inspire you, the palette of your plantings, containers, patio furniture and garden art communicates a story.

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Select a specific palette. Lure the eye. Brighten a dull spot. Create a mysterious effect with sultry hues. The entire color wheel is at your fingertips, ready to explore and play with.

Try these color ideas:

Devise a harmonious scheme: Select two or more favorite colors that work well together in flowers, foliage or a structure (such as a fence, arbor or gate). Let this grouping be your “color signature.” I once interviewed a gardener who loved the high-energy interplay of red and yellow, hues that made her smaller garden appear larger. Other landscapes may benefit from a subtler scheme, relying on quiet, restful colors. I love periwinkle blue paired with violet, shades that reflect the perfect hydrangea flower.

Use foliage to unify the design: Predominantly green plants help transition and blend sections of the garden and give them interest, even when nothing else is in bloom. Highlight the palette with variegated plants and use burgundy foliage as a dramatic footnote.

Play with basic color rules: Devise an attractive monochromatic scheme (in gardening terms, this might translate into a landscape with blooms, berries and bark in similar colors, such as coral or salmon). Or use complements in which colors opposite each other on the color wheel punch up a dull spot. The horticultural equivalent of red and green might actually be burgundy and lime-colored foliage. Finally, plants of analogous colors offer a pleasing visual harmony when all cool tones (purple, blue and violet) or warm tones (red, orange and yellow) are planted together.