In the Sunset Test Garden, we have an incredible rainbow of flowers—deep purples and sharp greens, creamy yellows and rusty reds. With such an array at our fingertips, we decided to arrange stems not by size and shape but by their vibrant hues. In other words, we got back to basics.
“One particularly beautiful bloom starts the composition,” says Alethea Harampolis, cofounder with Stefani Bittner of Bay Area–based Homestead Design Collective. “The rest of the materials and colors follow from that.” For our focal flowers, we chose English roses, lesser-known dahlias, low-water echinacea, and a zinnia that won’t quit.
To pick their companions, Bittner and Harampolis suggested a tool you may remember from a childhood art class: the color wheel. This helpful guide shows how pigments best mix and mingle—in this case, in bouquets. The results are four dazzling arrangements organized by simple-to-follow color principles. We call it Color Theory 101. But don’t worry—it’s an easy A.