What is chroma in floral design?

Chroma in floral design refers to the strength or saturation of a colour - how pure and intense it is relative to a neutral grey. High chroma colours are vivid and visually dominant; low chroma colours are muted and subtle. Chroma is distinct from value (lightness or darkness) and hue (the base colour identity): a colour can be pale in value but high in chroma, or dark in value but low in chroma. The structural guideline for chroma in a design is to use approximately one third strong chroma to two thirds weak, placing the most intense colours toward the focal area. Colours of equal high chroma used together in quantity compete and cancel each other out - the design loses hierarchy and the effect becomes visually exhausted. This phenomenon is most visible in polychromatic colour schemes, where the management of chroma is the primary design challenge. Sources: Pampling (130).