Singing the Blues

They're called minor bulbs, the tiny flowers we scatter about in an effort to save our sanity after a long winter. Bulbs like the scilla pictured, snowdrops, crocus, muscari, anemone, and iris are tiny and fleeting. In my town, scilla carpets the lawns in the historic district, turning them into a sea of blue. Mine have decided that the flower beds are far easier to colonize. They brighten the ground layer for a few weeks and provide welcome treats for the hungover bees crawling out into the pale March sun.

We seek out the color blue in the landscape. Bluestone, blue spruce, blue glazed containers, bluebells, blue hosta, and more are all prized. Perhaps because a blue sky is a clear sign that all is well, the storms have passed? The implied distance of an open sky brightens our mood and makes us feel safe? At any rate, we do know that blue foliage gives us a sense of distance, which is why my Blue Cloak concolor fir is planted on the lot line. It definitely softens the view of my neighbors lawn.

The earth is warming and tantalizing signs of spring are popping up everywhere. This scilla just emerged and soon will turn its pretty blue flowers to the heat of the sun. What have you planted to sing the blues?