FLOWERS OF ALL SEASONS 191 



almost unknown as a matter of fact and prob- 

 ably is unknown in Nature. For pure colors 

 are not pleasant to the eye; their brilliancy 

 needs tempering to make them endurable. 



Ordinarily two primary colors should not be 

 used in groups that immediately adjoin, but a 

 progression from one primary color to another 

 by way of their secondary color, is always pos- 

 sible and very effective if well carried out. 

 Pure blue may progress to pure yellow by means 

 of green — foliage of course takes care of this — 

 and pure blue to pure red by means of purple. 

 This last you see allows space for the shades of 

 magenta; but the plants to furnish these must 

 be carefully selected, since in some the color is 

 muddy and ugly. 



Such a progression should not be too abrupt, 

 but should move in several steps when possible, 

 from primary to secondary and thence to the 

 succeeding primary. And then, supplementing 

 this as a general guide, is the proportioned use 

 of complementary colors. These are the pair 

 of colors made up of any primary color in com- 

 bination with the secondary, of which it is not 

 a part — as red and green, yellow and purple, 

 blue and scarlet. Primary and secondary are 

 said to be complementary to each other because 

 if united they would — theoretically — compose 



