Orange Insanity
Kenneth Hixson (Fri, 23 Jan 2004 01:02:55 PST)

Hi, members
For years, I've not liked orange asiatic lilies--the Enchantment
that John Bryan mentioned, stayed in the lily garden only one year
before being banished to a less desireable abode, and when it dwindled
away, it was not replaced. That I'm not the only one who feels that
way is evidenced by Judith Freeman (of The Lily Garden) who has repeatedly
commented that she can't even give away orange asiatics, and doesn't
bother to name an orange lily, unless it is exceptionally good.
Then one summer I was hybridizing some trumpet lilies, and realized
that what I was doing was trying to get more orange trumpets and flares.
The same orange color I didn't like in asiatics, I did like in trumpets.
Admittedly, the shade of orange is not the same, but it is orange. So,
why is the color I dislike in asiatic lilies, likeable in a different
type of Lily?
I've been thinking about that for several years now, and don't have
a really good answer. Obviously, I don't dislike orange as a color, but
for some reason I have feelings about asiatics in orange. I do remember
reading disparaging remarks by garden writers, things like "common, vulgar,
stridant", and that is part of it, and probably part of it is that I never
tried to get orange asiatics placed to advantage in the garden. Perhaps
Enchantment with a background of grey, such as Artemesia Powis Castle.

I wonder if we don't all have mental associations with particular
flower colors, which influences how we see those colors, and whether we like
those particular flowers. The time of year is also a factor-yellow crocus
are attractive now, but in July or August, they probably wouldn't get a
glance.

Ken western Oregon