598 



LAYING OUT FLOWER-GARDENS. 



effect will be pleasing or not is another 

 question ; that is a matter of taste, and 

 is governed by the laws of the harmony 

 of colours, which will be afterwards ex- 

 plained." 



On the subject of contrast we find the 

 following simple rule laid down by an 

 anonymous contributor to the " Gardeners' 

 Journal" : — 



"Contrast of Colour. — The rule in this 

 case is always to put one of the primitive 

 colours — red, blue, or yellow — next another 

 of these colours, or some other colour 

 formed by compounding the other two. 

 In bedding plants, wherever a handsome 

 plant of the colour required cannot be 

 obtained for any of the particular beds, 

 white, or some neutral tint, should be 

 employed as a substitute. For example — 

 If one bed is planted with red, the adja- 

 cent ones may be filled with blue or 

 yellow, or any colour composed of a mix- 

 ture of these ; but a colour containing 

 red in its combination ought not to be 

 brought into contiguity if it can be 

 avoided. If none of these hues can be 

 employed, green, brown, or white, might 

 be used, but not purple, as it is well per- 

 ceived that red enters into its composi- 

 tion. So of the other primary colours : 

 where blue occurs, purple must not 

 come in contact, being partly composed 

 of blue ; but yellow, or red, or any com- 

 bination of these, or any neutral tints, 

 may be used. So of yellow. If contrast 

 be the object, the same rule will hold 

 good with respect to the secondary col- 

 ours, formed by the admixture of the 

 primary ones. Thus purple should al- 

 ways come next to yellow, but never 

 next blue, red-brown, or red : it may also 

 be contrasted by olive brown or white. 

 Orange does not look well near yellow or 

 red, and black must not approach blue 

 or pink. In this way contrast may be 

 kept up, bearing in mind that a primary 

 colour, and any hues formed by its 

 agency, ought not to come in immediate 

 contact." 



Some artists attach a much greater 

 value to the tertiary and secondary col- 

 ours than to the primary ones ; and so 

 far as the employment of them in the 

 arrangement of flower-gardens is con- 

 cerned, this may be judicious, because the 

 primary or positive colours are found to 

 exist rather sparingly in nature, while 



the softened and subdued tints greatly 

 prevail. " The eye," says Moore, (in " The 

 Principles of Colour applied to Decora- 

 tive Art,") " is less exerted or fatigued by 

 small than by large masses of positive col- 

 our ; consequently, the smaller the object 

 the more positive may be the tint ; and 

 in viewing small objects, it is difficult to 

 shut out of view the surrounding hues 

 which act in support and relief of the 

 positive colours." From this the planter 

 of the parterre should bear in mind not 

 to indulge in the use of any of the three 

 primary or positive colours alone in his 

 largest masses, but to combine them with 

 others of the same class, or substitute 

 some of the more subdued tints ; while, 

 however, he may employ the former in 

 his smallest beds. " We find the general 

 combinations or arrangements of colours 

 in nature beneficially adapted to the re- 

 quirements of human vision ; and the 

 great painters of the middle ages, having 

 discovered the principals, have applied 

 them in the works which now command 

 the admiration of mankind. It appears, 

 therefore, that if the principles found in 

 nature, and adopted in the works of the 

 greatest colourists, are correct, we should 

 use the tertiary, quartiary, and neutral 

 hues, for the greatest quantities, and 

 reserve the primary and secondary posi- 

 tive colours to heighten the effect, or 

 attract the attention to the points of 

 interest." The reviewer of this work, in 

 " The Gardeners' Journal," very justly re- 

 marks : " In gardens we often see a clump 

 of dark sombre-looking evergreens, encir- 

 cled with a formal bed of scarlet pelar- 

 goniums, or some bright yellow or white 

 flowers, which, instead of having the desir- 

 ed effect of making the mass look gay and 

 cheerful, give it a harsh and unnatural 

 appearance ; but if we employ the bright- 

 est or yellow flowers sparingly, and with 

 the tertiaries and neutrals, purple, puce, 

 auburn, &c, blend and soften them into 

 the sombre tints of the evergreens, and 

 the surrounding landscapes, they will 

 become part and parcel of the whole, 

 and produce a brighter and more pleas- 

 ing picture than if they were scattered 

 about at random." 



So early as the year 1806 we find that 

 the attention of the late Mr Loudon was 

 directed to the harmony of colours in 

 flower-garden arrangements; and this was, 



