Published: April 27, 2008 12:33 am            

Try colors you wouldn’t normally choose

Last December, the national nightly news programs announced the Color of the Year for 2008 was going to be blue — blue iris to be exact.

With that announcement, color officially became “news.” As gardeners, color has been a major element in our landscapes since we first put seeds in soil, but never before have we had so much support to stretch our color boundaries. Books, TV shows and countless magazines, all worked to introduce consumers to new colors in the market as well as fresh combinations of old favorites.

Color affects almost every aspect of our lives, influencing how we feel, where we spend our bucks and the overall quality of our lives. You are reading the Sunday paper as you are probably sitting in your favorite chair. Take a look around the room. Where is the sun right now? What pleasures you the most? Does something really bother you?

Grab that cup of coffee and step outside, sit in your garden and take that same assessment. What are the predominate colors here? What colors are you missing? Why?

Using the colors we love is the easiest and least expensive way to control our environment both inside and out. Pantone Inc., the global color authority that determines the Color of the Year, offers 3,000 colors of paint to change your interiors more to your liking. To freshen up the outside, almost all of the nursery Web sites will help you find the flowers and foliage that matches the colors you have in mind.

A challenge for you about the colors you do not like is to pick a spot or a pot and fill it with at least three colors you have never used before. Let me know what happens.

I, too, am trying to get out of the box this season. Except for an occasional rose, I never have planted a yellow or orange flower. I do not know why, but I never have liked either color. Last fall, I was sitting in my daughter’s back yard and noticed the most beautiful soft yellow marigolds. We discussed the plants, where they were bought, their ability to withstand the Oklahoma summer and her total satisfaction with her purchase. The memory of that afternoon shared with my grown child in the cool of a fading sun still lingers, all caused by a little yellow flower.

This year, I am limiting my garden to the six half barrels that line my back yard, and I have two packs of snowdrift marigold seeds as well as a flat of bright yellow ones ready to plant.

You are never too old to experiment with something new and maybe create a sweet memory with someone you love.



Roche is a Garfield County Master Gardener.