Blue bulbs in bloom mid February

M. Gastil-Buhl gastil.buhl@gmail.com
Wed, 12 Feb 2014 10:46:01 PST
Hi Kathleen,

Well the climate envy goes both ways. :) Those Colchicum autumnale I  
received from you via the PBS BX 321 in August 2012 just have not  
thrived at all in my garden, likely because it is so much drier and  
warmer here. I ordered several species bulbs from a nursery in the PNW  
for the first time last year and have been giving them extra dollops  
of stored rain water but I expect they will not thrive like they would  
in your garden.

Kathleen wrote:
"Photographs don't always document the colors we 'see' in flowers. So  
I'm curious, using these cards, how close could you get to specific  
flower colors?"

Good question. I am learning how to document color. When I see a  
flower in the garden, the color I perceive is influenced by its  
surroundings and the lighting. Sometimes even with the Pantone color  
chart I think I have captured the color match but then upon reviewing  
the photographs I see it is not an exact match. There is not only the  
expected variation between plants but also shades within a single  
petal. The color chart is more precise than my blue painters' tape but  
even that common blue tape is better for my purpose than no reference  
at all.

Awhile back someone mentioned on this list that a catalog photo seemed  
over saturated. Imagine if the catalogs included a calibrated color  
chart.

- Gastil



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