The sensitive use of colour and foliage lies at the very heart of gardening. Penelope Hobhouse explains the principles of colour, visual effects in changing light conditions, the interplay between colour and texture and the essential design factors that help the gardener to exploit these successfully. She explores the gardener's palette and considers how best to employ it to paint beautiful garden pictures through a catalogue consisting of more than 1000 plants, grouped first by colour and then by season.

Horticultural information is given for each.