Vibrant colors can enhance your garden

Chicago Tribune

16-03-2025

I would like to plant more interesting annual and perennial combinations at home this year and am finding it hard to develop a color theme as I look at catalogs. My combinations seem to be off each year. Can you offer some advice on how to create better combinations of colors?
— Yvonne Tyler, Libertyville
This is a great time of year to design your annual displays. Garden staff has just completed the review of the Garden's 2027 spring annual displays. We work in advance to provide more time to get and grow more unusual plants and coordinate with other Garden programs. Start your planning process by using the color wheel to help you understand the basic relationships between colors and to gain an understanding about mixing them more effectively. Consider each plant's required growing conditions in addition to the color effect you are trying to achieve so that the plants will perform well in your garden's growing conditions.
Complementary colors appear opposite one another on the color wheel. Examples include yellow and purple, red and green and blue and orange. When you pair complementary colors, they reinforce each other — each color appears more intense than if they stood alone or next to other colors. Think of purple petunias and yellow daisies, blue pansies with orange tulips, or yellow-flowered yarrow and violet salvia. These pairings become more vibrant and intense when you see them together. What about red begonias paired with green hostas or ferns in the shade? The red pops out next to green. You can also create eye-catching shade combinations with chartreuse-leaved Hakone grass, orange-flowering tuberous begonias and blue-leaved hostas.
Harmonious or analogous colors are those that appear next to one another on the color wheel, such as red and orange, orange and yellow, yellow and green, green and blue, blue and violet and violet and red. Analogous colors can go beyond two colors. Think of groups of red, orange and yellow or blue, violet and red. They share similar pigments and tend to blend well. These groups create very little contrast, leading to an elegant and soothing color combination.
A cool color palette includes blues, violets, white, pale yellow and greens. Cool colors evoke a sense of calm; they are relaxing rather than invigorating or energizing. Cool colors, such as light blues, violet and purple appear far away. They recede into the distance, unlike bright orange and yellow, which appear to stand out.
A warm or hot color palette includes orange, yellow and red. Hot colors are bright, vibrant and energizing and command attention when used in a mass or as accent points. I have come to prefer a softer color like a light pink next to my front door at home for a more relaxing mood after a long day of work. Bright colors work well when planted in locations with full sun exposure.
The color white is neutral in the garden and helps separate colors and make them richer in a planting. This color appears to glow early in the morning, during dusk and at night when there is supplemental lighting. Use white flowers for garden areas you are more likely to see in the evening to provide a more dramatic show.
Consider planting a bed with a monochromatic color scheme consisting of shades of only one color. Simple color combination plantings like this can be very dramatic. Small drifts of annuals mixed in with perennial and shrub borders can add much interest to the garden.