16 LANDSCAPE GARDEN SERIES 



Color possesses three qualities: hue, intensity and value, and we 

 describe any given color in terms of these qualities. Hue is the elemen- 

 tary quality which gives a color its name, as red, yellow, blue, green. 

 Intensity is the degree of brilliancy or fullness of a color, as bright 

 yellow, pale yellow- Fa/ue is determined by the amount of light re- 

 flected. Two objects of the same hue and intensity will have different 

 values when one is directly exposed to light while the other stands in 

 shadow. A plant with leaves so arranged that a large portion of its 

 leaf surface does not reflect light gives an impression of lower value 

 than one with loosely scattered leaves whose entire surface reflects light. 



In studying plant material for landscape use the average observer 

 concerns himself with variety of hue and intensity only in regard to 

 flowers. The foliage of all plants is green, with a few exceptions, and 

 the slight variation of green hues and intensities is practically ignored, 

 value being the only quality recognized and that subconsciously, for 

 most designers think in terms of form without realizing that form owes 

 its very existence to color. 



Close study of the various parts of any plant, particularly of 

 leaves and flowers, discloses that each separate part has its individual 

 hue, intensity, and value. However, in a landscape planting we admire 

 these details only upon close contemplation. In compositions we con- 

 sider only the qualities of the complete plant as seen at a distance- 



The process of forming plant compositions on a basis of form, 

 with some attention to color value, and the short-lived flower interest, 

 seems to guarantee on the average a fairly satisfying result; yet the 

 desired quality of restful, complete unity and harmony in most cases 

 eludes the grasp of the planting designer who ignores the variations in 

 hue and intensity of leaf color, however slight they may be. There 

 are red greens, blue greens, yellow greens, purple greens, gray greens, 

 of varying intensity. Observation teaches that blue greens and yellow 

 greens do not harmonize, although the discord is not easily noted except 

 in the highest degrees of intensity and value. 



The green in leaves is due to chlorophyll which is a vital factor 

 in growth nrocesses. There are additional "accidental" colors, due 

 to chemical elements in other cell bodies and in the sap, which assert 

 themselves only at the start of the growing season or after growth has 

 ceased. So long as growth is well under way, chlorophyll is dominant, 

 but is tempered by the "accidental" colors in a degree that varies 

 according to the activity of the chlorophyll. In midsummer, when 

 growth is at its fullest, these accidental colors are seldom in evidence. 



Flowers, on the other hand, rarely contain much chlorophyll, as 

 their function is to attract pollinating agents and insure reproduction. 



