Lady Banks Color Theme

These are point and shoot colors seen last April when my Lady Banks Rose was in full bloom on a trellis on the side of my cottage.  This theme was captured by Adobe Color (previously)/Adobe Capture (now) on my iPad. So I can save these nifty themes to my Libraries in Creative Cloud, but how can I share them?  Not so easy.  I opened in InDesign and right clicked the theme and selected Share, whereupon it opens in Creative Cloud where I can make a public link or keep it private.  Note that I can't download it from CC, so I made a screen shot (Mac Command+Shift+4) which saves to the desktop as a .png.  I can open in Photoshop and convert to whatever size and file type I need (to post here I had to reduce the image to 7 in. x 1.458 in. at 72 ppi). And there you have it.  A lot of trouble, but being able to show color combinations has its benefits, especially when working on projects where the input of others is so important.  

Hibiscus

Compliments of Chuck Cloninger.

Stop and Smell a Rose

In this case, Climbing Pinkie.

Tears in the Sand

This image was inspired by the Persian myth of a man named Ferhad who went into the desert to die because he was rejected by the woman he loved.  As his tears fell to the ground, tulips sprang from the sand.  The myth reminds me of the Southern American myth of the Cherokee Rose, the State flower of Georgia, produced by the tears of Indians along the Trail of Tears.  Interesting, isn't it, how themes of myths are repeated across cultures and centuries, often speaking to forms of resurrection, good prevailing over evil, joy produced from pain, blessings found in places of complete defeat with no escape.

There is an energy in pain.  When it is born, endured and reorganized, this energy has the potential for forming the greatest gift of beauty.  Frehad could have engaged in many destructive responses to the betrayal he experienced, even including taking his own life.  But by enduring the pain and engaging in the brutal honesty of tears in his powerlessness, he was the first person to see the magnificent beauty of the tulip.  At that startling moment of resurrection blessing I suspect Ferhad could not so much as remember the name of his betrayer. 

Poor Little Flowers

“Like the blossoming of the hyacinth and tulip – which seems to take place spontaneously, but really is the result of organization which had been going on through the Fall and Winter months – the emergencies of virtue, attainments, mastery over the weaknesses of the flesh and conquests over evil inclinations, will be represented in the moment of general resurrection…The plant of righteousness in many may not have seemed to grow or flourish; but as the poor little flower was exposed to the inclemencies of the weather, yet bloomed upon the mountain side, had accomplished more and was worthier of being prized than the magnificent plants nurtured in the green or hot house, so all who emerged from the terrible difficulties attending gross animal nature and lack of opportunities would be found of greater value in the sight of God than more favored Christians…He likened this process of spiritual resurrection to that which goes on in the development of the plant from the seed. Every time a truth is established either in taste, love gentleness, neatness, or kindness in a Christian he has emerged from the flesh and was getting toward resurrection.”

The New York Times describing a sermon by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher on the Resurrection Applied To Daily Life, published April 6, 1874

Alabama African Lily

For Mary Magdalene - the Agapanthus, aka African Lily, has traditionally symbolized one of the greatest nymphs of all time.

Signature Scent of Southern Nymphs

The gardenia is a signature scent of the South, and my gardenia just bloomed in the garden.  Above is a gardenia from my garden - that breathtaking white bloom, velvet like in texture and heavy with scent.  The gardenia is different from most white flowers in that it does have such an in-your-face smell, completely unlike the typical light, fresh smell of white flowers.   No innocence here.  The gardenia invites you to light some garden candles, strip and run through the sprinkler singing the song of nymphs...do you know what that is?  

Peering At Annabelle

Annabelle Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) beside the front porch through an iron looking glass of sorts...as white as white can be.

Happy Summer Blues

I wait all year for the Summer Blues, and here they come!  The garden is a paradise.

Felicia

Felicia is a Hybrid Musk (1928) who lives in my backyard.