Colorists have always found inspiration in nature. Birren remarked that: "She is versatile as an artist, bold in some moods, subtle in others. She combines hues in contrast and analogy. While she isn't always a lady of refinement, her wan tonness has a sure and voluptuous appeal. Color in nature is vigorous and lucid. It offers a wealth of ideas."

Among his "pertinent observations" is this: "Analogy (like ness) is the first natural principle of color harmony. The hues of the rainbow run adjacently through red, orange, yel low, blue, violet. The colors of autumn blend through green, yellow-green, yellow, orange, red, violet. The petals of a red rose will appear orange in highlight and purple in shadow. Iridescence in a peacock feather and the wings of some in sects will swing from green at one angle to blue at another and purple at still another. Water will appear green, tur- quoise-blue, violet in various depths and movements." All these natural phenomena show color harmony by analogy.

Such schemes have a refined beauty. When she chooses, Nature combines opposite or nearly op posite hues in a startling manner. She thinks nothing of creat ing blue or purple flowers with orange or yellow centers. She veins the underside of blue-green rose leaves with red. Her blue butterflies and birds often have yellow on them. These harmonies by contrast are sharply dramatic.

Nature uses few hues. She cleverly seeks variety with a few colors, usually two to a flower. Green is, of course, the com monest of all colors followed in turn, by yellow, blue-violet, and red-violet. Even the sky is seldom pure blue but more often greenish, yellowish, gray, or purple. At times it is even orange or scarlet. Atmospheric haze drawn across her palette softens everything and brings it into harmony.

The single color scheme, therefore, is unnatural, since it is too limited in scope. Schemes based on pastel colors lack vitality. The modern approach to color is bolder. Contempo rary gardeners crave color in large masses and in forceful combinations.