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3 - Combining plants Print page Combining colours Colour sets the mood of a bed/border. But remember it’s not just flowers that are colourful - leaves, fruit and stems are too. Colour theory Colour theory is based on the colour wheel, which is basically the spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet) bent into a circle. Particular relationships between colours give certain results. Adjacent colours Use two or three adjacent colours to create a harmonious effect. For example, red and orange (and yellow)
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Opposite colours Opposites The most striking combinations are complementary colours that lie directly opposite each other: red and green, purple and yellow. You can use complementary pairs as great accent colour, for example, a single purple-flowered plant in a bed of yellow.
Contrast colours Contrasts Based on colours spaced at equal distances around the colour wheel, contrasts work best in groups of three, for example, red, blue and yellow, or purple, green and orange. It’s up to personal taste but as a rule of thumb up to five colours can be contrasted before it gets too much for the eye. But this needs careful planning - use a dominant ‘theme colour’ and work the rest round it. Colour combinations Find out which colours work well together with our fun colour wheel Flash feature. You can apply these principles to your own colour scheme choices. Previous
Colour combinations
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3. Planting schemes and themes Introduction Planting styles Combining plants Shapes and textures Colours Do your research Test your knowledge Go further
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Plant lists
Plant lists View plant lists on: Red plants Orange plants Yellow plants Green plants Blue plants Indigo plants Violet plants Find thousands more plants in the BBC Gardening database .
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Video The supreme challenge of planting is getting the right style. Find out more here. Colour wheel Planting styles Planning new borders
Interactive
Interactive Experiment with the colour wheel feature , or take a fun attribute quiz to see what style of garden may suit you. (External) Requires Flash 5
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