Monday, April 18, 2011

SPRING'S SHADES


When we think of spring, the first color that color that comes to mind is green. Chlorophyll green. Green in a a thousand-and-one shades. Vernal green. 

Spring is the green season, sure enough…and green is the dominate, eye-enriching seasonal hue everywhere you look. But green isn't the only color game in town.

There's the pink of spring beauties in the woods…


The gold of forsythia along the drive…


A purple clump of violets beside the walk…


White dutchman's breeches nodding in the wind…


Sky-blue bluebells down by the river…


And jaunty ol' yellow dandelions just waiting to be picked for a mess of salad greens.

Spring is indeed green in more greens than there are names for all the color's variations…but spring is also every other shade of the rainbow, and then some! Plus it's also delicious!
_______

16 comments:

The Weaver of Grass said...

Your bluebells are so interesting Grizz as they are totally different from ours. Otherwise i recognise the other flowers as old favourites.

Julie Baumlisberger said...

Oh, Grizz...I'm truly envious of the glorious flowers you already have down there!!! Beautiful pictures, thank you. We had snow again yesterday :( The poor daffodils don't know if they're coming or going!

KGMom said...

Lovely evocative photos, Scribe.
Remember Robert Frost's poem "Nature's first green is gold..."

Jain said...

I was sorry to hear you've been hurting, Grizz, and glad to see that you're well enough to get out, for at least a bit, in this wonderful, brief season.
Your flowers are very much ahead of ours! It seems as if I've been watching closed Virginia Bluebell buds forever.
I wish you (well, all of us, really) warm sunny days very soon, to heal whatever ails us.

AfromTO said...

Ah forsythia that is spring -we had snow flurries here yesterday and I long for a big blossoming yellow bush of forsythia that is the sunshine bush of spring.thank you

Grizz………… said...

Weaver…

More properly, these are Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica, the genus named for German botanist Franz Karl Mertens. Right now, they are carpeting many woodlands near here…and in my opinion, are easily one of the most spectacular and lovely wildflowers of the year.

Grizz………… said...

Julie…

I still have daffodils, too, and even a few late crocus. But also these wildflowers, along with at least a dozen additional species…or maybe three dozen, as the the count changes and increases daily.

Hey, I'll envy you your cool weather in August, and your lovely northcountry.

Grizz………… said...

KGMom…

Nature's green is gold if you come from Frost's New England and pay attention to spring's signs—especially the yellow-gold of early birches and willows. Frost knew his landscape, for sure.

Grizz………… said...

Jain…

Thank you…and you know I wish you the very best, too, always. And I'm truly glad, bad as I've felt, to be able to get out and about while at least some of the earlier wildflowers are in bloom. I dearly love spring, and I hate missing a single moment.

Heavy rains for here tomorrow and Wednesday—so the river will rise; but the wildflowers will appreciate the moisture and the morels will pop if we get a good sunny day afterwards, and I'll appreciate the mushrooms.

Grizz………… said...

AfromTO…

I planted two forsythia the year I moved here for that very reason—because nothing lights up the yard and my heart quite so much in April as forsythia's dazzling wealth of gold.

Tramp said...

How well you have captured the glorious common old dandelion. So unfairly overlooked and maligned it has served people well in times when enough to eat was a luxury.
Now take a rest in that chair on the deck.
...Tramp

Arija said...

Your Dutchman's Breeches, is that one of the Dicentras?
You do have a great wealth of spring flowers that brighten up the dullest day. The Forsythia is a dream against the blue and violet.

Enjoy your vitamin rich spring salad!

Grizz………… said...

Tramp…

Indeed it has…and still does among those who know good eats even when they're grown in the back yard and are maligned as noxious weeds by the neighbors. Dandelions are my favorite of all cooked salad greens—and I've loved greens of all sorts all my life. Growing up, we'd gather them by the bags full, eating them daily during the spring. Mom would prepare and put up dozens of package in the freezer, and fix them at least once a week through the rest of the year. Christmas and Thanksgiving meals always included a big bowl of cooked dandelion greens.

Not much chair-on-the-deck time in my near future as it's raining today, supposed to do the same tomorrow, maybe a break on Thursday, but more rain through the weekend. Good for the wildflowers, though. AND DANDELIONS!

Grizz………… said...

Arija…

You've got it right! Dutchman breeches are Dicentra cucullaria. They're past their peak here now, and will probably be gone in another week—but they're as sure a sign of spring as any wildflower in the woods.

I love seeing gold forsythia against a deep-blue sky—spectacular!

Richard said...

So that's what spring looks like...I forgot. I did see one new green weed the other day...lol.

Grizz………… said...

Richard…

This is the real deal, in full color with no need for the parka. Singing birds, croaking frogs, bees humming around the blooms.

Hang in there, my friend. Spring will make it to your neck of the woods at least by mid-June. In the meantime, you can refresh your memory here! :-D