Laughing Ravens

'Mardi Gras Mambo' ( Joseph Musacchia , R. 2013) Seedling 08-10-01. LA, 36 (91 cm), Early to midseason bloom. Dark purple self; orange-gold spear signal; slight recurve. 'Red Velvet Elvis' X 'Hush Money' . Purple in the garden isnt hard to come by. Sometimes it leans towards red, other times more towards blue. Purple, when rich and pure, can become almost black in its purple-ness. In the garden setting, against green sword-like leaves, the purple of the Louisiana iris 'Mardi Gras Mambo' can almost appear like ink, until the bright yellow signal in the throat pops right out. That contrast in color   Perennial lupine  When set against the wine pink flowers of the weigela behind it, the perennial lupine's purple comes through as a soft purple. The bi-color of the pea flowers keeps it interesting! I have spent so many late afternoons in the early summer, trying to capture macro photographs of lupine flowers. The many shades of purple is simply enchan...

red peony  Everyone has an idea what red looks like. Most men see far fewer shades of red than the average woman. But at the end of the day, most people (who aren't color blind) can distinguish red from orange and red from purple. Somewhere in the middle is true red.   red poppy Red poppies are glorious when they open up in early summer. I used to go to great lengths to plant seeds early, expecting that my transplants would bloom successfully. I learned pretty quickly that annual poppies like being sown into the snow in late winter. It seems frivolous to plant them so callously onto melting snow... but if the last few years have taught me much, it's to watch what the plant does on its own. Poppy seedpods shatter but there are always a few stuck in the pod. That pod doesn't really soak up enough water until it has frozen and thawed a few times. Then those seeds germinate beautifully. In my experience, the most successful poppies have happened about two feet (or the height of...