The colours of plants and flowers come into being as a result of the action of sunlight. The life of the sun's rays is captured by the plant. And the lively action of the sunlight gives the colour phenomena of the plant an etheric aspect, which Artemis plant colours still retain. Earth colours, mineral colours and synthetic colours are lacking in this etheric element. They may have other qualities, but they do not have the "vitally active" quality of plant colours. Each plant colour has a distinctive basic substance, as a result of which it acts on human beings in a differentiated way.

With plant colours, each colour shade always contains other colours from the complementary range. Light always contains some element of colour, and it is this that makes the colour dynamic. Even in electric light, especially when the lighting is diffuse, plant colours seem powerfully "alive". This quality of lifefulness is not to be found in earth colours, mineral colours or synthetic colours.