Flowerbed design and colour
Use colours when you design the flowerbed
It is recommendable to keep the flowerbeds in the garden simple by limiting the number of flower colours. It can be very aesthetic, for instance, to select only blue flowers for an entire flowerbed. The white flowerbed is also a classic.
Use the colour wheel when designing the flowerbed
The colour wheel is a good guide for achieving attractive colour combinations. Red, yellow, and blue are primary colours, and orange, green, and purple are secondary colours.
Warm and cold colours in the flowerbed
Red, orange, and yellow are warm colours. Blue, green and violet are cold colours. A warm colour is always opposite a cold colour on the colour wheel.
Complementary colours in the flowerbed
Colours that are opposite each other on the wheel are complementary or contrasting. The purest or strongest of these complementary or contrasting colours create a striking, lively impression. Combinations of less pure colours, pastels, provide a calmer effect, as does combinations of strictly cold colours or variations of, for instance, blue.
Harmonious and contrasting colour effects in the flowerbed
When designing a flowerbed using colours you can either go for a harmonious effect (using colours that are similar in some way) or a contrasting effect (using colours that are as different as possible).
Harmonious colour effects in the flowerbed
You can try to obtain monochromatic or analogous harmony in the flowerbed. If you go for monochromatic harmony, you should select flowers in one hue, using its various shades, tints and tones. For instance, light and dark blue and warm and cold blue.
If you go for analogous harmony, you select flowers of 2-3 colours that are next to one another on the colour wheel (for instance red, orange, yellow).
Contrasting colour effects in the flowerbed
The two most common colour contrasts are complementary and primary. If you want to achieve complementary contrast, you select flowers of two colours opposite each other on the colour wheel (red/green, orange/blue, yellow/purple.)
If you want to achieve the primary contrast, you select flowers of the primary colours blue, yellow and pink. This can be a riot of colour. It can get a bit messy if too much contrast is used. Try to mainly use one of the colours and use the other colour more sparingly to accentuate the predominant colour.
Use colours to create an illusion in the flowerbed
Colours can also be used to create an illusion. Cold colours appear to be farther away, while warm colours seem closer. A small garden can be made to look bigger by planting flowers of strikingly cold colours in the back. A long, narrow garden can be made to look shorter by planting flowers of powerful, warm colours in the back.
Light and colour in the flowerbed
Sunlight
It is not recommendable to position white and yellow flowers in full sun light, as they tend to glare. In shady areas, however, white and yellow will brighten the flowerbed. In deeply shady areas, colours with a high degree of luminosity (orange and scarlet) appear more striking than yellow or white.
Illumination
In areas that are illuminated at night, it is best to plant white, pink or light yellow flowers. Light colours look fetching under outdoor lighting; particularly plants with silvery grey foliage.
Blue flowers in the garden
Yellow flowers in the garden
Pink flowers in the garden
White flowers in the garden
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