Some years ago on the way to a photoshoot with a senior designer we drove past a nursery. It was early morning and they had just put out flats of bedding plants and flowering shrubs on the entrance walkways. My colleague nodded in their direction and asked, “What do you think they are selling?” Without much thought I answered, “Plants.” He shook his head, “Color.”

Color is more important in our lives than we might think. It has a tremendous impact on our psychological well being and mood. Once, when I was driving through villages and towns in the Belgian countryside my riding companion laughed as she pointed out all the women sitting on the front steps with their faces lifted towards the sun. She explained that they don’t see the sun much so when it does appear the daily routines of life stop so they can soak in the light and color.

Color alerts us to danger, directs our path, calms and soothes us, invigorates us, and organizes us. Color is a wonderful gift that we enjoy everyday and it comes to us by way of light.

Everyone is familiar with Sir Isaac Newton who discovered the component colors in white light: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. In a short series of posts I want to look at this spectrum in the garden.