27 
Book of Gardens 
PLANNING GARDENS OF ONE COLOR 
The Principles of Color Variations, Contrasts and Harmonies Applied 
to Gardens of Blue, Red and Yellow 
W HEN we speak of a garden being of one 
color we mean that one color predomi¬ 
nates, and that such flowers as have contrast¬ 
ing and harmonious tones are used with it to 
give the predominant color greater prominence. 
This may be interpreted in several ways—a 
yellow garden in spring, a blue garden in mid¬ 
summer and a red garden in the autumn. Or, 
if the owner’s penchant for one color is very 
decided, the plants can be so selected as to 
carry that color through from spring to au¬ 
tumn. The color variations are 
infinite. Here we can discuss only 
gardens of blue, red and yellow. 
To be effective, the flowers for 
a blue garden must be of a true 
blue color, entirely free from tones 
verging on lavender and violet. 
Inasmuch as blue is a receding 
color more of it must be used than 
is necessary in the case of strong, 
advancing colors like scarlet and 
yellow, and the effect will be weak 
unless employed in masses suffi¬ 
ciently large to overcome this 
tendency. 
Because a garden of one color 
is always uninteresting, there 
should be added to the blue at 
each season a little deep, royal 
purple of a shade that reveals no 
hint of red or magenta and whose 
velvety richness almost equals the 
contrast value of black. Such a 
purple combined with pure sky 
blue achieves dazzling results. To 
intensify the blue in the foregoing 
contrast, introduce some pale yel¬ 
low and creamy white. The 
deeper the blue, the more intense 
the yellow. 
Accordingly the pale blue of 
anchusa or flax looks best with 
the straw color of Iris flavescens, 
and the deep cobalt of Veronica 
with the intense orange of the 
California poppy. It is necessary 
to bear in mind, however, that 
these contrasting tones must at all 
times be kept strictly subordinate 
large round masses in the center of the beds 
where they may dominate during their period 
of bloom; asters around the boundaries where 
they may grow inconspicuously in the fore and 
mid parts of the season. An early flowering 
plant should have a correspondingly late one 
in front of it, which will hide the vacant space 
when the former dies. 
In order to test the distribution of color and 
bloom for each season, lay pieces of tracing 
paper over the plan, one piece for each season, 
and trace in color the masses that 
would be in bloom at that par¬ 
ticular time. 
These same general principles 
apply to any kind of color gar¬ 
den. The one great rule to re¬ 
member is that the colors must be 
strong and bold and undiluted. 
For a time the American gar¬ 
deners had a flair for what they 
called pastel shades—colors di¬ 
luted by white or hues diluted by 
black, resulting in general effects 
of soft pink and pale blue and 
mauve. These gardens were rest¬ 
ful, but one tired of them. In the 
majority of cases the garden of 
bright, intense effects is more 
desirable. In the country where 
everything is green, a bit of bright 
coloring is a relief in a monotony 
of verdure. 
This is the justification for a 
red garden. Skillfully place red 
flowers in patches against a back¬ 
ground of red foliage with which 
are mingled white flowers of fine 
texture, and you have real beauty. 
Such a garden cannot be large. 
The choice of white flowers to 
combine with the red should also 
be limited to those of small size 
and soft texture or of solitary 
stateliness. 
The larkspurs, in a wide 
variety of blues, supply a 
dominating note during June , 
and well on into July 
to the particular blue with which they are used. 
In making the plan for the blue, or any other 
color garden, it is impossible to forecast the 
results to a nicety; but if the contrast proves 
too strong when the garden is in bloom, it is 
easy to reduce the tone by sufficient blossoms 
to secure the proper effect. 
The location of the various plants will de¬ 
pend on their height and the form of the plants 
themselves. For example, spikes of gladiolus 
beside soft masses of gypsophila; larkspur in 
From early July until October the showy, 
light blue bells of the platycodons are one of 
the garden’s red sights 
The mertensia, or Virginia cowslip, blooms in 
late April and May. It is light blue, with 
luxuriant gray-green foliage 
