Winter Reading: Color for Adventurous Gardners by Christopher Lloyd

I am still trying to do so some reading of quality gardening/plant books this winter. This is the third book I have read by Christopher Lloyd who has a wonderful sense of humour. Color for Adventurous gardners goes through each color flowers can be, describing his favorite in each. It includes mauve, green, brown, and black. His basic tenet is that one doesn't have to worry about color clashes in the garden but maybe he just has an inborn sense of good taste. He says, "In our adventurous borders, the loudest reds and oranges, with which it contrasts so tellingly, can be let loose given green as a safety net." In the very latest issue of the English Garden Magazine, there is a quote from Dr. Jimmy Smart, creator of Marwood Hill Gardrens, in Devon (England): "One never really notices clashing colour in the wild and there are very few occasions when it offends me in the garden." This is the same idea. Lloyd doesn't seem to be a fan of Monarda- one would expect it in the chapter on red. Also, Hemerocallis are not used alot- I would have expected them in the chapter on orange flowers. In his chapter on white flowers, he warns not to use huge expanses of blaring white. His chapter on mauve is interesting: mauve is a color many think they don't like. Magenta, another comtroversial color is included in the chapter on purple flowers. Purple, magenta and mauve run into each other and seem to mean different things to different people- they run into blue and pink also. The only color he discusses which I have not just mentioned is yellow which also scares people. Lloyd is not a timid flower colorist.