88 LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



Color names, unfortunately, are loosely applied, 

 and the painters call hues by names which mean 

 nothing to the dry-goods dealer who is evolving 

 new colors (in name at least) every year to satisfy 

 the demands of his fair patrons for something 

 new. The horticulturists use a still different 

 terminology, and, sad to relate, are rather careless 

 about it, too. On account of the all-pervasive 

 looseness in color characterization, it has seemed 

 best to keep the color names in this book as simple 

 and definite as possible. 



Intensity is the brilliancy of a color, and its op- 

 posite may be called neutrality. Imagine two 

 blossoms of the same hue, such as blue, for instance. 

 They are of the same value ; one is neither lighter 

 nor darker than the other ; one is a bright blue and 

 the other is a dull blue, which is merely another 

 way of saying that the intensities are different. 

 The brighter flower has the greater intensity. A 

 bright color in unfavorable surroundings is much 

 more offensive than a dull one; consequently it is 

 safer to use brilliant colors sparingly, relying on 

 colors of less intensity for the greater part of the 

 scheme. If a high intensity is characteristic of a 

 planting scheme, it will be difficult to secure an 

 accent color unless it is one of the highly special- 



