An unapologetic plant geek shares advice and opinions on gardening, the contrived and the natural landscape, as well as occasional topics from the other side of the gate.

April 18, 2010

The Theme is Green

The theme of this month's Picture This Photo Contest from Gardening Gone Wild is Green World. Green of course is easy to find in the garden, but picking which picture to use was difficult for me. The first shot I considered is of emerging foliage from the Sun Goddess Hydrangea (Hydrandgea macrophylla 'Sun Goddess') growing in my garden. Some of my favorite shades of green are the yellow greens, acid greens and chartreuses; they have more warmth in them, plus they make many other colors pop.

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Sun Goddess'


The other photo I considered is of an Agave americana planted in the display garden at work. I have been sitting on this photo since this past winter. It was taken on a bright sunny day where the night's frost was quickly melted by the rising sun. Despite the warm sunlight, the bluer greens of the Agave are still cold to me.

Agave americana


I finally decided to use the following picture of Variegated Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum odoratum 'Variegatum' ) as my entry. It was taken last week in the back yard and while the hues are cool, they are not not as cold as the Agave. The color is more of a jade green, and I like the movement in the photo.

Polygonatum odoratum 'Variegatum'

16 comments:

  1. Beautiful! And good luck. And I would love to see more of that agave...someday...

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  2. Nice. Still working on my entry. Hardest assignment from GGW so far.

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  3. Very lovely, Les, a winner for sure! I followed your advice and submitted the green cup daffodil shot from bloom day's post. You really helped me out there, thanks! :-)
    Frances

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  4. I guess collaging all three together would have been over the top...good luck!

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  5. I like all of them.....though the Solomon's Seal gives the appearance of mystery.

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  6. My favorite, as an art photo, is definitely the agave! However, I agree with your choice of the Solomon's seal as the best illustration of the color "green". This time of year, especially, the fresh warm greens of Spring are what we're all craving. Good luck!

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  7. Those are fantastic! Good luck. :-)-- Randy

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  8. I do too Les...Variegated Solomon's Seal is just an all around nice plant (a little assertive grower, but that can be nice)...Good luck in the contest! gail

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  9. The photos are wonderful, love the colors.

    Thanks for the comment on my post, was surprised you would want to make a home in a silo.

    Have a great day.

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  10. They are all beautiful. I do love the yellows of 'spring green'. Do you remember that crayon color in the Crayola box?

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  11. I like the shot of the Agave, with its cool shades.

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  12. Decided to go with the polygonatum, too. But I don't feel like my shot really nails Rob's criteria. Still was fun working on it. Will pay more attention to green from now on.

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  13. That's a very pure green. Nice choice...

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  14. All great pictures but I like your choice best! Good Luck...

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  15. Loree,
    Maybe one day I will show a picture of the whole thing, it is over 6'.

    Craig,
    Yes, flowers and other colors are easy.

    Frances,
    Good luck to you!

    Phillip,
    Sometimes over the top works, but I think restraint was called for this time.

    Janet,
    Thanks!

    Joycelyn,
    I thought the Agave was too blue to enter.

    R&J,
    Thanks for stopping by.

    Gail,
    I am OK with its assertivness.

    Threads,
    Thanks for coming by.

    Layanee,
    I believe my sense of color was formed by those big boxes, back when you could find "Flesh Tone" and "Indian Red".

    Sweetbay,
    I have a lot of pics from that agave.

    Craig,
    Criteria or not, they were good photos.

    John,
    Thanks!

    Skeeter,
    Thanks for your comment!

    Les

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  16. These are such beautiful images Les - all three of them. I think that the agave image might be my favorite, but the one you chose was beautiful too (the movement, as you said, is wonderful).

    I have a variegated solomon seal in my garden - last year was it's first year and it was only one stalk - but these year there are two and they are both blooming. I won't complain! I can't wait until there is a little clump of them blooming.

    (I saw the more recent post first, and what to go back there again - it looks like it was the perfect day!)

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