Just some colors

Too often I think of the garden as a list of jobs that need to be done: weed this bed, plant those seeds, prune this shrub, mow the lawn. Other times I think of it as a collection of plants: the flowers, the shrubs, the bamboo, the edibles. Sometimes I like to forget about the jobs, and even forget about the plants, and look at things differently. One way I do this is to take a really close look at specific parts of everything that's growing.

Not to examine the structure or details of the flower or leaf, but to focus on the color. Springtime colors are so fresh and vibrant, I just can't help myself.

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The common hyacinth blooming in the kitchen window fills the room with perfume, but it also fills my eye with so many shades of purple when you look close enough.

The fruiting trees and shrubs are starting to put on their show now, and these plum flowers say "white" from a distance, but up close the yellow pollen becomes much more important:

The blueberry blooms are unmistakable, aren't they?

This is the first year my apple serviceberry has flowered:

The gunnera leaves are impressing me already, and they're only a couple of inches wide -- I expected to be impressed by this plant, but not by its color!

If it's red-edged greens you like...

Red edging is nice, but you say you want more. You want a ruddy hue that's got some kick to it... like hot pink maybe?

I will never stop being amazed by bleeding heart blooms.

I do not know what this next plant is, as it's growing as a weed in one small section of the yard. I could have sworn this was an all-green plant until I got up close and the yellow bud tips took over:

So you say you like the yellows? How about one of the most common yellows around:

Followed by something a lot less common: bamboo.

Those leaves are only just emerging and are already drawing me in. Imagine what it will look like in a month when it's fully leafed out. Pleioblastus viridistriatus leaves are fantastic when fresh!

I really enjoy getting up close to the plants and focusing on their colors. Now it's back to that list of jobs I still have to do...

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