PLANT BEAUTY. 45 



porting. The grouping of plants or sprays is to be governed by 

 the law of balance. 



Beautiful color has such qualities as purity, gradation, and 

 depth, and when colored flowers are massed, harmonious relations 

 of the different hues should be secured. 



All color comes from the sun. The standard colors are red, 

 orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. The first quality in 

 color is purity. Color must not be muddy, as is often seen in 

 novel varieties of pansies. 



There are five typical color groups or harmonies. The first 

 may be called a contrasted harmony. All green-leaved plants 

 with white flowers are in this group. The second is dominant 

 harmony, produced by combining tints and shades of one color, as, 

 for example, a head of hyacinths or a bunch of double violet asters 

 with no green foliage in sight. This combination of tints and 

 shades, so common in the decorative arts and in dress goods, is 

 rarely found in nature, and is least satisfactory as a harmony. 

 The third is analogous harmony, composed of related hues of 

 color. All green-leaved plants with yellow flowers are in this 

 group. A bunch of gladioli tinted with violet-red, crimson, rose, 

 scarlet, and salmon forms an analogous harmony of exquisite 

 beauty. The fourth is complementary harmony — a harmony 

 brought about by the juxtaposition of complementary colors. A 

 violet red camellia seen against its glossy green leaves is a com- 

 plementary harmony; so, also, is a bunch of violets with their 

 yellow-green leaves. Another beautiful example is the marsh St. 

 John's-wort, the leaves of which are green-blue, with a thick 

 bloom, while the flowers are an orange tint, thus giving two 

 complementary colors. The rocks at the seashore are in the 

 orange scale, and the water being in effect a green-blue we have 

 complementary harmony. Inland the rocks are covered with 

 lichens of gray color, to contrast with the grass. The crags of 

 the Alps are orange, from the orange-colored lichens growing 

 there, making a tone complementary to the color of the sky. 

 Such facts seem to prove that the Almighty who made these 

 colors loves harmony. " He hath made everything beautiful in 

 its time." 



The fifth is perfected harmony : a color group composed of 

 analogous hues combined with a color complementary to the 

 general effect of all the group. For example, the gladioli form- 



