Our program speaker, in the very black and white month of January, was Kelley Forsyth, Horticulturalist at Branch Brook Park, who led us through the principles of color perception to the transitory beauty of a garden awash with an abundance of colorful flowers throughout the year. Using examples from poets and painters and garden designers, she explained how choosing complementary colors for your flower beds can enhance the brilliance of every bloom.
Kelley offered us these notes to follow up her lecture.
Books
"The Gardener’s Palette: Creating Color Harmony in the Garden", Jo Thompson
"Contemporary Color in the Landscape", Andrew Wilson
"Natures Palette, the Science of Plant Colors", Dr. David Lee
Very colorful gardens to visit
Chanticleer Garden, Wayne, PA
Wave Hill Garden, Riverdale, Bronx, NY
Websites and Online Nurseries
Andrew’s Greenhouse, South Amherst, MA. It is a hike to get there, Unfortunately they do not sell online, but Andrew’s has a comprehensive catalog of unique annuals for your educational and dreaming pleasure.
Bluestone Perennials, is a great online nursery. They send small but mighty plants. The link above sends you to their powerful search engine. I have often used this search engine to help design flower gardens.
Select Seeds, fantastic seed purveyor. Starting seeds are simple and fun. Good starter seeds are Zinnias and Nasturtiums. Select Seeds also sells plants.
Branch Brook Park needs you!
There are many ways to help support Branch Brook Park.
You can become a donor or purchase a memorial tree or park bench.
We need help during the Cherry Tree Blossom Festival. Want to be a Cherry Tree Ambassador? Click here. Or Volunteer at another time, click here.
·     Branch Brook Park is looking for Seasonal Workers. A great job for anyone who loves to work outdoors. We will train. Please note that we are very flexible in terms of schedule. For more information click here.
Questions or suggestions? Don’t hesitate to contact me at Kelley@jerseycares.org
Below, Chevreul’s color wheel, the first chromatic circle containing pure hues, from Cercles Chromatiques de M. E. Chevreul (Paris: Didot, 1861) (Roque, 2018)
