All the Colors, Not the Rainbow

Red is for the Seven Sisters Rose. This is usually varied shades of light pink with an occasional darker flower. This year all the roses are very nearly red. Since I don't like this plant much, this is at least a color I enjoy more.

For orange we have another blossom open on the 'Frosty Kiss' Gazania.

Common Mullein provides yellow. Thes are on the plant that has the fuzzy rosettes of big leaves in spring.

Green is a surprise. I just don't know what the surprise is yet. These leaves have come up in some disturbed soil. It may be one of the prickly lettuces, but it doesn't look quite right to me for that. Stay tuned.

Blue and purple don't look very different in the pictures. In real life the plants do look different. This is the Viper's Bugloss, that weed I love. I've coaxed enough of it to self-seed in the driveway beds that it's looking very nice right now. I'll share a long shot another day so you can see how much there is.

And for purple, this is a plant Betsy gave me, Moldavian Dragonhead, Dracocephalum moldavica. And there's a scientific name that's easy to remember. Draco=dragon, cephalum= head, and the moldavian. It's an annual, but perhaps it will re-seed. This one is new to me.

For white, this is one of my new Moon Garden plants. It's still in its pot because it's going in a specific place that I don't have dug up yet. This is a Guara called 'Whirling Butterflies.' It's supposed to get 3 feet tall but probably not until I get it out of that pot!

Finally, what set off this color theme in my head was the black sky at mid-day! We had a fast but heavy thunderstorm. But if there was a rainbow afterwards, I missed it.

The heat today has been the worst so far. I may have to sleep on the deck tonight. The fans have lost the battle with the interior air.

In other news, I did the morning editing and stuff, but the hateful task in the basement is nearly done. Stay tuned. Only worked outside briefly. There is a little breeze now, so I might try for a few more minutes.

See Winter Rainbow 1

2020 Philadelphia Flower Show Colors

 
I don't think I got as many good pictures this year- or maybe I'm just a bit jaded. But today I'll just give you a selection of colors, and then we'll get into the various displays.

RED

One of the really colorful displays (which you'll see more of) had a number of amaryllis wired into panels. But they were all upside down so you could look right into the flowers. It was an interesting use of the plants. These are very red!



ORANGE

Here is an orange Pelargonium sp., otherwise known as a tree geranium, although they don't all have the tree-like form.



YELLOW

In the same display as the red amaryllis, the edges were lined with boxes of yellow lilies. I don't know what variety.



GREEN

There was lots of green to choose from at a flower show! But this stunning wall of succulents is pretty special. The ancestors of these specimens were collected for Longwood Gardens (a wonderful public garden near Philadelphia that I hope to visit one of these years) from other botanical gardens France in 1957. Since the theme of the Philadelphia Flower Show this year is Riviera Holiday, it's neat that the plants come from that portion of the world (although the originals of many are native to other places in the world).



BLUE

These plants were also from Longwood Gardens. These are a hybrid, exclusive to Longwood, Cineraria, Pericallis x hybrida. But this is an unusual color, known as the variety 'Cornflower Blue.' The strain reverted to more usual colors, and horticulturists from Longwood went to the Canary Islands to gather seeds. They managed to back-cross the resulting plants and re-develop this clear blue Cineraria.



PURPLE

Finally, for purple, I went with a fairly common houseplant, but it is a consistent purple foliage, and can be stunning in displays. This is Wandering Jew, Tradescantia pallida. You may recognize the genus name. It's a type of spiderwort, native to Mexico.



I'm beginning to get my head back around all the things there were to see at the Flower Show. I'll get more specific tomorrow.

In other news: I did some volunteer work, finished getting ready for the tax appointment and then had the appointment.

	See Intro to the 2020 Philadelphia Flower Show
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Very Early Spring Color Wheel

 
I'm searching hard for color. Not surprisingly, these are pretty much the same things that have color early in the season every year. Even so, they are welcome.

RED
Red osier dogwood- I think I pictured this very same patch last year, but it's so vibrant!



ORANGE
A beech leaf looking like a dragonish boat in some miniature world.



YELLOW
A dried up polypore fungus. More creamy than yellow, but still interesting



GREEN
I know, moss is so trite. But it's looking very green and little else is yet.



BLUE
Yes, the blue sky is even more trite. But it was also a treat, since the forecast for the day was cloudy skies. One of the best parts of the leafless seasons is interesting branches against the blue. (And I dried clothes outside again!)



PURPLE
Black raspberry canes always look so purple in the spring!



And now for a story, for free.

While I was taking this walk, I stopped briefly beside a small wetland to look for any life that might be popping up. Something came up behind me and began snuffling at my legs. I turned to find a reddish golden retriever there at my side.

I petted her and she took my hand in her mouth and tugged as if to lead me somewhere. She was being very gentle, but had a tooth between the tendons on the back of my hand so it hurt anyway. I extricated my hand and told her she was a good dog. She did not try to follow me, and when I came back down the road she was no where to be seen.

Because she was a reddish color, like Irene's former Sandy Fe, it almost seemed like a visit from Sandy's spirit. I don't really believe in that stuff, but it felt odd anyway.

And I grew up on TV classics like Rin-Tin-Tin and Lassie. There was a small piece of my consciousness that felt guilty for not letting the dog lead me where she wanted to take me. Perhaps some child had fallen down a well and must be rescued, or Timmy was in trouble, or...

	See Late Winter Rainbows II See Winter Rainbow I
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North Country Color Wheel

 
Had a chance to take a quick 6-mile walk on the North Country Trail today. Everyone is posting pictures of mushrooms because it's been so wet those are this year's flowers. Me too! Here you go.

Red- I'm not going out of my way to ID any of these but these are red Russula sp. Past their prime, but still very red.



For orange you get these cuties.



Yellow fingers- an apt name.



Green- a stump turned into a terrarium with moss and mushrooms.



Blue- sorry, no blue fungus, but a blue blaze to mark "my" trail.



And a nice light purple polypore. (Not violet-toothed because it doesn't have teeth)



It was a great day for a walk in the woods- in the sixties, most of the bugs are gone.

I'm way behind on the NCT 100-Mile Challenge, but this gets me up to 48 miles.

	See Flower Show Color Wheel
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Philadelphia Flower Show 2015- Color

 
One of the things I need most at this time of year is color, and the Philadelphia Flower Show always provides me with lots of that. Tonight here's a color wheel for you. OK. it's a strip, but you get the idea. Here, the snow has disappeared in a flash, but no green yet.

Red (ish)

Orange


Yellow


Green


Blue


Purple

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(Late) Winter Rainbows II

 
A number of years ago when I was teaching a Sunday School class the kids and I made up a devotional exercise called "Summer Rainbows." During the week they would look for something in nature with each color of the spectrum. They wrote down each find, and thought of something to thank God for that related to each item. It's a little harder in the winter, but I've found a set again recently, and I'll share it with you. I wanted to make one more winter rainbow- had a hard time with yellow, but it's a pale yellow. When spring starts to pop, this will be easy again.






The twigs of the red-osier dogwood are really RED at this time of year. With the light hitting them at a low angle they really shine. It is a wetland shrub, very common here on damp ground that has occasional standing water. I found these on an undeveloped lot right in town. Thank you, Lord, for the wild places that remain hidden, even in the city, where frogs sing and birds may build nests.

The moss is starting to reproduce. These ORANGE stalks are the sporophytes growing up like fingers from the green moss. With this picture next to the dogwood shrub there is no sense of proportion. These are less than an inch tall! I'm really grateful that there is such wonderful variety in the natural world to keep exploring.

I've had everything for this rainbow except YELLOW for two weeks. This crusty lichen is a pale yellow, not quite white. Lichens are good environmental indicators- they won't grow where there is a lot of pollution. I don't know much about lichens, but just learned that there is a local man who does and he is writing a column in the paper every month about them. Thanks, God, for other people who find joy in discovering the hidden treasures in creation.

This spinulose fern picture was taken in New York on my hike with Irene. I had to choose between a closeup of the leaf or this long shot with the three fronds. I like the way it fans out from the base, so I chose the long shot. This fern stays GREEN all year under the snow, even when beaten down. Now there is a lesson from God if there ever was one! Thanks for the reminder, Lord!

BLUE is another crusty lichen. And it's blue-gray. If we want real blue we'll have to wait for the crocuses and windflowers- they will be here soon! Well, I don't know exactly what to say about this one. Lichens just make me smile because they are a mystery of cooperation between a fungus that needs food and an algae that needs water, so I'm grateful for things that make me happy.

I also found this very PURPLE black raspberry cane on the walk with Irene. Black raspberries have medium thorns and very reddish-purple canes with a pale bloom on them that can be rubbed off with your fingers. I am very thankful for friends who love to take hikes. Watch over Irene for me, Lord!

I'm sure that will be the last winter rainbow this season! Not that upper Michigan will escape instantly into spring, but probably by the time I collect another set of pictures the change of seasons will be becoming very evident.

See Winter Rainbow I
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Winter Rainbow I

A number of years ago when I was teaching a Sunday School class the kids and I made up a devotional exercise called "Summer Rainbows." During the week they would look for something in nature with each color of the spectrum. They wrote down each find, and thought of something to thank God for that related to each item. It's a little harder in the winter, but I've found a set this week, and I'll share it with you.






The red is British soldiers lichen, so named because of the color is like the "redcoat" uniforms of the Revolutionary War period, and the little stalks all stand up straight like soldiers. These were growing on what's left of a bench back by the railroad tracks. They just always make me smile, and I'm really grateful for things that bring smiles.

Orange is the color of weeping willow branches in the winter. Weeping willows are associated historically and in legend with both joy and sorrow. I just like the way they look- so graceful. Their beauty is certainly not easy to ignore. I'm thankful for the peace their symmetry and gentle swaying inspires.

The lichen growing on this aspen tree is bright shades of yellow. I find it amazing that organisms that function to break down and decay dead wood can be so bright and cheerful. Think about what would happen if dead plants and animals did not break down and return to the soil. Thank you God, for a natural system that works so well.

The green moss was hiding under the snow and brown grasses, and its bright mounds were right there, a secret spot of color. It's a reminder that there are hidden spots of beauty everywhere, including in people who may not look beautiful at first glance. Remind me of that when I need it, Lord.

It was tempting to just take a picture of the blue sky, but that seemed too easy. Here are red elder buds. They are surprisingly large, and look very blue in the natural light. This is not the edible elderberry, but a relative. They are so large that they practically scream "there is new life coming!" I am very thankful for all the promises of life. If we didn't remember spring and summer, the winters would seem pretty bleak... even to me, the winter lover.

For purple I chose the leaves of a Heuchera in my garden, peeking through the snow. This plant was a gift from a friend this past summer. I'm thankful for Cindy and her kindness to me.

Thus ends the first rainbow devotional exercise that I've shared with you. Perhaps there will be more in the future.