CUT FLOWERS 



143 



The room itself must be considered ; and though 

 in most forms of decoration, both indoors and out, my 

 own Uking and what knowledge I may have gained 

 lead me to prefer using colour in harmonies rather 

 than in contrasts, in the case of cut flowers I find 

 in practice that I use as many of the one as of the 

 other. 



If I may suggest a general rule, I should say, 

 use warm colours (reds and yellows) in harmonies, 

 and cold ones (blues and their alHes) in contrasts. 

 But one must be content to be able to suggest in the 

 vaguest way only when writing about colour, except 

 in the case of a flower or substance whose colour is 

 constant, for except by such reference no tint can be 

 accurately described. It is very easy to say pink, but 

 pink covers a wide range, from warm ash-colour to 

 pale salmon-red, and from the tint of a new-born 

 mushroom to that of an ancient brick. One might 

 prepare a range of at least thirty tints — and this 

 number could easily be multiplied — all of which 

 might be called pink; with regard to some room, or 

 object, or flower of any one kind of red, only a few 

 of these will be in friendly accordance, a good number 

 will be in deadly discord, and the remainder more 

 or less out of relation. 



To give a few illustrations : if the walls and main 

 furnishings of a room are blue, all pale yellow and 

 warm-white and creamy-coloured flowers will do well, 

 such as sulphur Hollyhocks and Iris flavescens, Evening 



