Jewel Tones in the Garden

I love the term 'jewel tones'.  It sounds like crystalline music: "the singer's jewel tones soared through the atmosphere..."

Jewel tones are rich colors with a high level of saturation. They are bold and their vibrancy resembles the color of gemstones, such as emerald green, amethyst purple, ruby red, topaz yellow, sapphire blue, tourmaline green, and turquoise blue. Many artists like these saturated colors.

Geum

In fashion, jewel tones never go out of style..they are the clear, pure colors that people with a 'winter' skin coloring should wear. Some folks just look fab in purple, magenta and royal blue.

photo by Jan Johnsen 

Gardens featuring jewel tones are alluring but be careful : rich colors must be used in moderation or your garden can become an overbearing cacophony rather than a scintillating song...

But done right, clear, vibrant color is a winner. Even in a quiet Japanese garden this violet/magenta azalea looks great! photo by Mark Windom.

Mark Windom photography

A swimming pool in full sun in mid-summer is the perfect setting for powerful jewel-tone colors.  You can include them in your plantings or in pool furniture, in pots and planter colors or in your pool tile...Here is the infinity pool tile at the Jade Mountain spa in St Lucia. The colorful pool tiles sparkle brilliantly under the clear water.

Bright colors near a pool always look great. I planted a riot of yellow flowers here to counteract the pool that my company installed.

Johnsen Landscapes & Pools

Pair saturated colors for a dazzling effect. For example, complimentary amethyst purple and topaz yellow are great together.  But make sure that both are equally rich in color or one will overwhelm the other. Even red and magenta looks good but the white certainly helps to cool it down, like below.

Hollyhocks and foxglove

A garden dressed in jewel tones sparkles like no other. In my landscapes I contrast deeply saturated hues with foliage plants. For example, this photo illustrates Impatiens 'Blue Bayou' mixed with the broad, green leaves of hosta and the whitish cast of Japanese Painted Fern.

I also love the clear colors of deciduous azaleas, specifically the Northern Lights hybrids.  Here is 'Apricot Surprise' - a Northern Lights hybrid. Plants are 4 feet tall with doubled flowers of a distinct apricot-peach tone.  This planting is in a wooded area and is set against a leafy green backdrop. This makes all the difference when you want a color to pop out.  It's not so much the color as the effectiveness of the background.

So consider using jewel tones in your garden...