632 Ornamental Gardening. 



within the preceding rules, which show that, in a general sense, 

 contrasts are agreeable in the same proportion as they are 

 decided. 



5. All colours, simple or compound, are brightened by the 

 vicinity of white, and moreover, contrast with it in a most 

 agreeable manner. White has the additional advantage of 

 improving bad combinations, by being placed between the 

 colours that do not look well together, as, for instance, between 

 red and orange, red and violet, or violet and blue, etc. 

 Hence, this colour, so freely lavished in nature, plays an im- 

 portant role in decorative culture. 



6. With the exception of white, all colours are weakened by 

 the neighbourhood of black, which deprives them to a certain 

 extent of their brilliancy. Dull or deep tints suffer especially 

 when associated with black resulting, of course, from the 

 feebleness of the contrasts. But as black, broadly speaking, 

 does not exist in the Vegetable Kingdom, 1 such contrasts could 

 not be effected, except between the plants and the soil, and 

 then the latter is never truly black. In the absence of this 

 colour it is replaced to a certain degree by the dull purple 

 foliage of such plants as Perilla Nankinensis, or by the very 

 deep purple-violet flowers of the Sweet Scabious, some Dahlias 

 and Hollyhocks. 



The combinations of colours in the flower-garden are coin- 4 

 monly binary or ternary, rarely quaternary, unless the green of 

 the foliage be considered as taking rank in these combinations. 



The most commendable binary combinations are as follow, 

 which we arrange in the order of their respective merits : 



a. All colours, simple and compound, with white, though 

 the brighter and purer the colours the more pleasing the con- 

 trasts ; for example, bright or deep blue with white, rose or red 

 with white, bright yellow with white, orange with white, green 

 with white, and violet with white. 



6. The simple colours together, or with their complemen- 

 taries, suck as red and yellow, red and blue, yellow and blue, 

 yellow and violet, orange and blue, and green and red. 



Ternary combinations are far less numerous, and in most 

 cases white is an element ; often, indeed, it is repeated. The 

 following examples will enable one to judge : White, red and 

 green ; or white, red, white and green ; blue, orange, blue 



1 The black spot on the flower of the Horse Bean (Faha vulgaris) is perhaps 

 the only instance of pure black in flowers. 



