| Flower pots filled with color make feel something, | | | | colored chrysanthemums in yellow, gold, rust, and |
| from happy and energized to calm and soothed. And | | | | burgundy. Be sure to select hues carefully so your |
| since container garden design is the uber small space | | | | container design doesn't appear haphazard. |
| design, it's essential to understand the power of | | | | Emotional Effect of Color |
| color. | | | | We know color makes us feel something. But what, |
| Why? Because whether you're patio gardening or | | | | specifically? |
| glancing up at your window boxes or hanging | | | | Generally, blues, and purples recede, or seem to be |
| planters, what you see should reflect decisions you | | | | farther away from the viewer, and present a cooler, |
| make and not appear random. Or even worse, | | | | more reserved presence. Yellows and reds come |
| convey a busy, harried look when you were going | | | | forward and are much more assertive, creating a |
| for elegant and refined. | | | | "hot" emotional climate. |
| The container gardening design help below will show | | | | Gardening Help Tip: To warm up a cool color, move it |
| you how to achieve just the feeling you want, using | | | | toward the red or yellow shades. Blue becomes |
| color alone. | | | | warmer as you move it toward the lavender shades, |
| Strategic Color Choices | | | | for example. The opposite is also true. Cool down hot |
| - Green will always be present. And that's great | | | | colors by moving them toward their opposites-yellow |
| because it functions to absorb and soften some of | | | | becomes cooler as you move toward the |
| the stronger colors. It also presents a calming | | | | yellow-greenish tones. |
| presence since the deeper shades are very soothing. | | | | Also, try using these two container design rules: |
| - Monochromatic: To create a soothing, restrained | | | | Repetition. Repeat colors and flower shapes, types, |
| statement, pick a monochromatic scheme of one | | | | and forms. Repetition is soothing, and very easy to |
| color and its variations (with limited spots of accent if | | | | achieve. Plant a flower pot with trailing variegated ivy |
| you wish). Gardening Help Tip: Try using different leaf | | | | topped by white calla lilies. In a container garden |
| textures, flower shapes, and color shadings to create | | | | display, repeat this bi-colored palette or use the ivy in |
| a lovely, sophisticated outdoor planter. For example, a | | | | two other clay flower pots. |
| summer flower palette in white might include tall | | | | Odd numbers. For some reason, we humans like |
| 'Casablanca' lilies above non-trailing petunias. The | | | | odd-numbered groupings. They're much more |
| surface of the pot will stack upward. You can add | | | | satisfying than even-numbered ones and send a |
| trailing bacopa (with its tiny white flowers) to | | | | message of "completeness" to the viewer. Make sure |
| complete the display. | | | | your container gardening design includes pots in |
| - Complimentary container designs are striking and | | | | numbers of one, three, five, or seven (etc.) for best |
| bold. Since yellow and blue are directly across from | | | | effect. |
| each other on the color wheel, this color combination | | | | And finally, to add color and light to your shade |
| is considered complementary. A spring example of | | | | garden, try these two easy tips: |
| complimentary colors would include yellow daffodils | | | | Use variegated foliage (ones that contain shades of |
| combined with blue hyacinth and bi-colored pansies or | | | | white). They really stand out in semi-or full-shade |
| crocuses. Gardening Help Tip: Alter the impression of | | | | locations. Also try planting impatiens (especially in the |
| this color scheme by softening to or away from the | | | | pastel colors). They almost glow in the shade, are |
| pastel. Delft blue hyacinth, for example, would blend | | | | very easy flowers to cultivate, and best of all, they |
| well with a small, softer-colored jonquil (a smaller | | | | thrive in shade. |
| flower size than the daffodils) to make a | | | | Think of your overall container gardening design as |
| less-assertive impression. | | | | another "room" of your home. It's an extension of |
| - Analogous, blending colors: If you prefer a softer | | | | your interior décor (including your color |
| look and feel, plant flowers with colors next to each | | | | choices and style) and how you've landscaped and |
| other on the color wheel. Green, yellow-green, and | | | | designed the outside of your home. Remember, color |
| yellow would make an analogous planting. In fall, your | | | | communicates--make sure it conveys exactly the |
| container garden design can include analogously | | | | look and feel you want. |