Balanced color combinations are the most pleasing to the eye. You do not need to be an expert in color theory to understand that it’s all a matter of saturation. Our eyes tell us that intense orange flowers pair well with deep purple and apricot flowers play nice with lavender.
Almost every combination of hues has advantages. Pastels groupings look great in spring. (See the photo for pink begonias paired with rose-veined Caladiums.) Bold blends of reds, oranges and yellows can hold their own during hot months. Muted shades of burgundy and rust fit our preferences as we enter the autumn months. Neutrals like ivory, white or gray look wonderful as standalones or when used as a peace-making barrier between clashing colors.
When planning your choice of annuals for the year, don’t be afraid to pull out that color wheel from elementary school. (Don’t have one? Google does. I particularly like those provided by sites that offer printing services, like PengadPrinting.com.) It may inspire you to new levels of greatness in your flower bed choices. It is unlikely, for example, that you would choose to wear an outfit combining chartreuse, orange and purple. Consult your color wheel, however, and you may opt to pair orange zinnias, chartreuse sweet potato vine and violet petunias for beds that zing with energy.
There are four basic color harmonies: warm, cool, complementary and tetradic. Yellow, orange and red are considered warm colors, like fire or the sun. Blue, green and purple are cool colors that remind us of water, grass or the sky. Compound or complementary combinations are generated by selecting two colors on the wheel and the color opposite in a triangle. This produces my favorite combo, blue/purple/yellow. Tetradic combinations use a rectangle rather than a triangle. Example: red, purple, yellow-green and blue-green. If your rectangle has equal length sides (a square), a possible combination is orange, blue, yellow-green and violet. If you love lots of different colors in your beds, you cannot go wrong with a tetradic combination.
If discussions of color theory make you consider going all white with your flower choices, proceed with caution. There are many different shades of white. Ivory will look dirty when seen next to pure white. Some white flowers turn ugly as they age. White azalea and camellia blooms are gorgeous when young but become wretchedly ugly as they wither and brown.
At one time, color combinations of bedding annuals in the Mary Snoddy garden changed each year. I followed a patriotic theme one year, using white Catharanthus (vinca), red Salvia and blue Wave petunias. The following year it was red, pink, rose and white Zinnias, followed by a year of yellow Marigolds and purple Verbena. In the last six years, I have transitioned towards perennials and shrubs rather than annuals. I will reserve one bed for annuals, so that I can play with different color combinations. Change is fun.
Pink veined Caladiums paired with giant pink begonias at the Atlanta Botanical Garden in Gainesville
Yellow and red Portulaca in a hanging basket for a combination that never needs supplemental water.
A new container planting of primary colors. The Rumex at the rear serves as a moisture indicator, wilting when it is time to water. The sweetgum balls atop the soil serve to discourage my cats from napping here.