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We investigated whether the vegetative state depicted in stimuli and the date of evaluation were related to restorative potential (RP) and preference ratings. Stimuli depicted flowering, foliated, or autumn-colored plants in scattershot, clustered, or formal arrangements that represented complexity values equal to zero, 2, or 4 bits of Shannon's information entropy. Analyses included 77 and 105 respondents' RP and preference ratings from September and January, respectively, along with 106 respondents' fascination and complexity estimations from September. Evaluation dates did not relate to respondents' RP and preference ratings. Respondents rated flowering and autumn-colored views significantly higher in RP and preference than foliated, 4-bit views higher than 2-bit, and 2-bit views higher than zero-bit. Flowering and autumn-colored foliage, view area, and plant region quantities indirectly affected RP ratings through preference. Important landscape design and practice implications follow: Flowering plants and red or yellow autumn-colored foliage may increase users' preference and RP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 40 years of visual landscape preference studies have brought about numerous frameworks and informational factors for understanding and predicting human environmental perceptions. Rachel Kaplan and Stephen Kaplan (1989) developed one of the most widely cited, which is composed of four criteria -- coherence, legibility, complexity, and mystery. Few if any studies have investigated whether these criteria are affected by naturally- and culturally-induced seasonal changes in plant and vegetative characteristics. This research need is addressed herein. At five locations within each of three landscape architecture project sites in Pennsylvania and New York, 27 experts estimated the presence of each criterion in color photographs taken at three different times of the year. Separate repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) examined the effects of seasonal changes depicted in the photographs. Results showed that the seasons depicted had a significant effect on legibility estimates and a non-significant effect on estimates of coherence, complexity, and mystery. Planned contrasts showed that legibility estimates were significantly different between early and late summer, and late summer and fall. Suggestions for future research and practice are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]