Color Wheel Basics



You remember the color wheel you learned about in art class in school, right? To figure out how to combine and use color in your garden, think about how the colors are positioned around the circle of the wheel.

Color Wheel

There are six basic colors in order around the circle. Start anywhere on the wheel that you would like.

Remember that you will want to start and end with the same color in order to help you memorize the correct order. For example:
yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, green, and then back to yellow.

Typically, flower and plant colors are available in tints (lighter) and shades (darker) of the six basic colors.

Also, you may find an orange that tends more towards red-orange or yellow-orange or a blue that tends towards a violet-blue or a green-blue.

Also, keep in mind that a true blue color of flower will be difficult to find. Blue flowers generally run toward tints or shades of violet or purple.

Plan to visit gardens and nurseries when looking for blue flowers or plants and physically look at the flower or plant in order to pick out the color blue you like and want in your garden.


Remember to download your free PDF* version of the
GQnE color wheel and tips that you can carry with you
as you decide how to beautifully combine colors
in your garden areas.



*You will need Adobe Reader installed on your computer in order to open this file. You can get Adobe Reader here (opens a new window).

If you want to open the file in your browser window, just click on the link. If you want to download the file and then save it, right-click on the link and choose "Save Target As" or "Save File As."

Select where you want to save the file on your hard drive. Once you have saved the file, locate where you saved it, and double click to open.

In order to print, open the downloaded file, and select the "Print" option.



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