Yellow-Yellow

J.E. Shields jshields104@insightbb.com
Thu, 22 Jan 2004 05:11:52 PST
Hi everyone,

The comments on the quality of light and color are appropriate.  Indeed, I 
should think that they lie close to the heart of the aesthetics of a 
garden.  Jamie's point about the color yellow looking "common" is right on 
the button.  Dandelions are yellow, and in early summer are in everyone's 
lawns -- a negative attribute for a city or suburban lawn.  On the other 
hand, I have close to 1000 bulbs of mainly yellow Narcissus planted around 
my place. Yellow Narcissus are very welcome, even to me, in early spring -- 
when dark winter is still fresh in our minds, the sun is still low in the 
southern sky, and the light is "different."  By mid-summer, the sun is high 
in the sky, the light is harsh, the heat is getting annoying, and yellows 
and oranges in the garden can begin to get on one's nerves a bit.  It's an 
emotional thing.

Orange is also disliked by some gardeners, perhaps because we associate it 
with the ubiquitous old-fashioned roadside daylily, Hemerocallis fulva 
'Europa'.  That particular daylily slowly becomes an invasive garden weed 
over the long term.  Those orange flowers can be a red flag to a fastidious 
gardener.

The only Lilium that many of us can keep alive in our gardens for years on 
end is the old orange Tiger Lily, Lilium lancifolium -- another "common" 
and hence less desirable garden flower.

Geophytes include besides true bulbs all the corms, tubers and 
rhizomes.  As to Hemerocallis, which are tuberous-rooted rhizomatous 
herbaceous perennials, they are geophytes beyond a doubt (at least in my 
mind).  There are just plenty of other forums where they can be 
discussed.  N'est pas?

Regards,
Jim Shields
in central Indiana (USA), where we usually speak just Hoosier

*************************************************
Jim Shields             USDA Zone 5             Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92              WWW:    http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Tel. ++1-317-867-3344     or      toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA
Member of INTERNATIONAL CLIVIA CO-OP


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