Surefire Color Combos For Your Garden

If your garden is in full bloom right now, it's the perfect time to take a look around and see what's working, and what you might want to change next year.

Transforming the mood or look of your garden can be as easy as changing the colors you're using, according to The Early Show's resident green thumb, Charlie Dimmock, who shared ideas for improving your garden's color scheme Tuesday.

All of the flowers in your garden may be beautiful but, Dimmock observes, that doesn't mean they all look good together. You can achieve more harmony and personality in your garden by taking a little time to mix and match your plant colors.

A rule of thumb: Don't combine more than three colors. Of course, says Dimmock, nothing you choose can be wrong, as such - it's all a matter of personal taste - but there are some combinations that are almost universally pleasing.

Dimmock started with a pot that had a hodgepodge of colors.

She then showed two options that are still quite colorful, but much more harmonious: a complimentary pot of blue and yellow flowers, and a contrasting pot of blue and red flowers. Both were in blue-glazed pots, which further enhanced the color choices. Basically, the two pots were almost identical, except Dimmock switched out the yellow flowers for red. That simple change made an amazing difference.

Dimmock says different color combinations invoke different moods. Reds, oranges and yellows are "hot" - these busy, active colors give energy to your garden. "Cool" colors - pastels - are more restful.

She also had a pot she calls her "totally chilled out pot," filled mostly with green but accented with white - the most tranquil combination of all.

All the pots were painted a corresponding hot, cool and tranquil color. Dimmock suggests heading to the hardware store and picking up a small can of matte, interior paint (one that's sold as a tester, to see if you want to paint a whole room that color). The cans are inexpensive and, while they look small, they easily cover a large pot or two. Expect the paint to last through the season. Next year, when you want to change your annuals, you can simply slap a new coat of paint over the existing one. Make sure the pot is dry, quickly sand off any rough spots, then apply the paint. You'll typically only need one coat, unless you are using a very light color.

You don't have to choose one color scheme for your whole garden, Dimmock stresses. It's OK to have hot and cold combinations, even within sight of each other. The tranquil greens and whites make a good transition between the two, she adds.

Dimmock also displayed what she called the most versatile color of all for a garden, one that goes with almost anything -- purple! She had a plant in that shade that she placed alongside several different plants, to show how well it works with a variety of colors. She says you can create a very sophisticated color scheme by mixing purple with silvers and greens.