USING AND PLANNING COLOR FOR FLOWER ARRANGING
The Color Wheel is your guide Yellow - Red - Blue
are your primary colors.
All others are combinations of these and tints can be made with the addition of white.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- each of the colors on the wheel is one hue
- Tints are the hue diluted with white
- Tones are tints or shade of a color
- Shades are a degree of darkness of a color determined by quantity of black
Color Harmonies
Direct Complement - using two colors directly opposite one another in the wheel. (ie. red and green)
Split Complement - choose a hue and then select two colors on either side of the direct complement.
(ie. orange, blue-green, blue-violet)Analogous - using one third of the color wheel
(ie. in light green, yellow, orange)Monochromatic - Choose one hue and the tints, tones or shades of that color.
Triad Harmony - three hues equally spaced on the wheel (ie. red, yellow, blue)
Of course, in flower arranging, nearly every design will incorporate some green in the foliage. This is a unifying element and can be the foundation of any other color harmony chosen.
Keep color harmonies in mind when you are planning centerpieces for a banquet or dinner. Will the design complement the dishes and linen?
Does the event have a theme? Red, white and blue for patriotism? Whites, ivories and pastels for Weddings?
Seek appropriate depth of color. Soft pastels with harsher, darker colors may not be the best choice.
The colors of this site are planned based on a Direct Complement of a light tint of purple and green. The colors were selected from an arrangement that was a Best of Show winner based on the theme of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" 
If you are using a colorful container, try to use some flowers that carry the container color into the arrangement to give the design unity. White container - use some white flowers.
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