To be fair, there are lots of men who are very good with color. Most that I know are gay, but not all. I have worked with lots of architects, that may be why my experience is different. Grumpypants (the xbf, current bff who is still trying to talk me out of moving - he helped me move in, so he knows what a job it will be - poor man is in denial or shock) is a very good judge on colors for me. He even tolerates my search for the perfect pink nail polish, etc. I like men who are either very good with color, or who defer to my expertise.
I HATE bad color photos of plants in catalogs. Photos of "blue" and dark roses are the worst culprits! I check out real garden photos on sites like this to see the real deal. You can calibrate your monitor if you are extra picky or work with color cards often.
Now that I have a two car garage for storage and projects - since I don't drive yet. I am going to be able to finally refinish some furniture, set up my metalworking bench (I did mostly jewelry and buttons, but I think I will try some garden stuff) and recover a fabulous (to me, anyway) mid century reclining chair that has seen better days. I have taupe ultrasuede for it.
For paint, I go by the color card and return it if it doesn't match. I am looking for a great cobalt blue paint to paint my icky bamboo poles. I saw a great pic on about,com container gardening. I want one that has some luminescence to it - I
