Color Trends for Your 2016 Garden
Predicting color trends has become an annual event for interior designers and paint companies. How much these color picks impact consumer behavior is debatable, but they definitely influence the fashion industry, homewares manufacturers and wholesale buyers.
No color predictions are more eagerly awaited than the ones from Pantone.
The Pantone company’s PMS color matching system has been used by graphic designers and commercial printers since the 1960s. Their original “process” palette has more than 3000 colors, identified with a numbering system to ensure accurate matching.
Pantone has also developed a textile palette that’s used by fashion designers, interior designers and manufacturers. Each of the 2000 colors in the textile palette have both a name and number. These names sometimes give you a clue as to the color (as with “lavender”), but not always (as with “mission”).
Pantone’s typically selects 10 or 12 colors for the coming year and then designates one as the color of the year. The 2015 color was “marsala”, which they described as a warm, earthy neutral, though most people’s descriptions of it were less flattering, and it was widely considered a flop.
I’m guessing this put the pressure on Pantone to make a more popular choice for 2016, and this year, for the first time ever, they selected two colors:
The color Rose quartz is described as: “A persuasive yet gentle tone that conveys compassion and a sense of composure. Like a serene sunset, flushed cheek or budding flower, Rose Quartz reminds us to reflect on our surroundings during the busy but lighthearted spring and summer months.”
And Serenity: “Weightless and airy, like the expanse of the blue sky above us, Serenity comforts with a calming effet, bringing a feeling of respite even in turbulent times. A transcendent blue, Serenity provides us with a naturally connected sense of space.”
Image above is from the Pinterest board of nozzeedintorni a wedding planner in Milan. That’s dahlia ‘Cafe Au Lait’ in the top left corner.
It’s easy to jump on color trends when you’re shopping for new throw pillows or a new bathing suit. It takes a bit more creativity to bring them into the garden. Pots and planters are a good way to incorporate these new colors. You could also consider painting a fence or trellis; putting up a colorful flag or umbrella; adding a bench cushion, gazing ball or birdhouse.
Of course flowers and foliage are another way to introduce these colors into your garden. To inspire you, we’ve put together Pinterest boards for Rose Quartz and Serenity. Feel free to add any of these pins to your own trend boards.
Learn more about using color here: Garden Color 101, 6 Tips for a More Colorful Flower Garden, How to Use Black Flowers and Dark Foliage.
