SPRING COLORS

I’ve been struggling to find time to write recently. You might even say I've been taxed (!). Add to that, trying to narrow down the selections of photographs to post from the plethora (that has to be one of my favorite words in English) I’ve recently taken, and you have one tongue-tied gardener in the roost. So after taking a little photo safari in my gardens today, I’ve decided to put pen (keypad) to paper (word doc), grab up some photos to accompany the words, and get busy posting.

It’s not the nicest day of the spring, quite the contrary. It is overcast, cool, and windy. Almost everything appears as shades of gray.




For instance, these spent flower stalks from the hardy, dependable Phlomis russeliana (common name is sticky jerusalum sage) above. This perennial is one of the ‘2004 best plant picks’ for the Pacific Northwest, appropriate for USDA Zones 4-9. Read more about it at:
http://www.greatplantpicks.org/index.php?page=display&id=2713&searchterm=all


Among the shades of gray along the riparian area are beautiful deep red stems of the red-osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera), and the punchy pink of the salmonberry flowers.




The salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) blooms are perfectly timed to provide nectar for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. They also give tiny bursts of color to nourish the interest of human passers-by.




But shades of gray explode into bold blues and popping pinks with the heady hyacinths, and a sign of warmer dreams to come.