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| Color My World As I am putting this catalog together I am once again amazed by the different color names used to describe the flowers and foliage. The original 1903 Crayola crayons were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, and black. I like simplicity and the original eight Crayola crayons were good enough for me in kindergarten and I know from that famous book I should have learned everything in the world by then. (Although if I had written the book I would have entitled it, ‘Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten and 4th Grade’ because in 4th grade I had Mrs. Krey at McCahill School and I have to admit, we learned a lot that year…) Shouldn’t there be a limit on color names people can use? I think the sixty-four pack of Crayola’s would be too much because I have a poor memory and I’m always writing down notes to help me remember. I’m sure not going to carry around a note describing what each of those sixty-four colors mean. I’m 80% visual. Now I know that because when I went to my brother’s house in Montana he had a psychological test that he found on the internet and it showed if you were a visual person or an audio person. After I finished that test, right on the screen it said, “You are 80% visual.” I couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t “a little more visual than audio” or “a lot more visual” but exactly 80.000000% visual. Now the down side of that is I’m only 20% audio which means, when you’re talking to me at Funkie Gardens about plants, or kids, or your evil neighbors, only one-fifth is getting into my brain. This comes as no surprise to Diane or my friends because they have experienced this first hand. Such as when I respond, “Uh-huh” to an either/or question they were asking---about two minutes ago. And at those moments---I haven’t been tested---but I think I’m running about 110% visual and a -10% audio. My point is, I’m a very visual guy. I’m attracted to color. I like lots of different colors---I just think we could eliminate some of the names and work back toward The Original Eight. For example: · Teal – first of all, it’s a duck. Secondly, there is a green-wing teal and a blue-wing teal. So I asked Di, “What color is teal?” She said, “Kind of blue-green, kind of like this” (pointing to a blue folder) “only with green, a little more blue than green…intense…blue-green but intense.” Oh brother… · Carmine – what the heck is this? It’s a woman’s name! I didn’t even want to approach Diane on this one. I’m afraid she’d say, “Well, it’s a little like Judith only a little lighter. Not real light…but lighter. A light Judith.” OK… · Maroon – I know this one. I grew up in Minnesota and the Minnesota Golden Gopher colors are maroon and gold. So I’m OK with that one. I think if you want to use some obscure color names, stick with known colors of sports teams. · Orchid – well there’s only about a billion orchid species and cultivars so I’m not exactly sure which precise flower I’m suppose to pick out as the namesake. Again I asked Di, “What color is orchid?” She said, “Sort of lavender…with a touch of pink…I think…but I’m not positive…you could look it up in the dictionary…” Right. Look it up in the dictionary… · Peach, Melon & Orange – OK now people, these are fruit. I’m sorry but ‘yellow’ is not going to be changed to ‘banana.’ Orange is probably acceptable because it was one of the original Crayola eight and no one knows which came first: the color or the fruit. (Wouldn’t that make for an interesting doctoral thesis?) · Periwinkle – it’s blue but I don’t have a clue beyond that. So this time I asked my daughter Bailey (age 14), “What color do you think periwinkle is?” “It’s a real light blue.” “Really? How did you know that?” “Haven’t you ever read any fairy books?” (Well, not that I can think of---at least not recently.) “That’s what they all wear – periwinkle blue. Why did you want to know?” “Because I don’t know what color it is.” Scrunching up her nose, she replied, “Where have you been? Haven’t you ever colored with a periwinkle blue crayon?” “I suppose I have but I started with eight crayons, learned those, and when I got a sixty-four pack I didn’t think to memorize the other fifty-six…that was probably in 2nd or 3rd grade and I didn’t have to learn anything except in kindergarten and 4th grade.” “What?” “Oh nothing.” “You’re weird.” And so I am. But I still think there should be a limit on names of colors---at least in our industry. Maybe in clothes you might need to know if that sweater is fuchsia, bone, maize, bittersweet, sepia, thistle, or mulberry. But not at Funkie Gardens. Just get it close. If you want something that flowers in light blue, I’ll help you. If you want periwinkle, you’re on your own. * * * * * * * * * * * * A few days later… Diane came up to me and said, “I was thinking about our gardens. I was thinking about using some little bluestem. What’s the Latin name of that?” Not looking up from what I was doing I said, “Schizachyrium scoparium. Actually you might find it under Schizachyrium scoparium or Andropogon scoparium. They’ve moved it around lately. Taxonomists delight.” There was silence. I looked up. Diane had that smirk on her face in which I knew I had been tested. And she got me. “What?” I said. Still smiling, she said, “Now…tell me again why you can’t remember what color teal is?” |
Funkie Gardens opens for
the season April 23, and our Woodland Open House will be the weekend of May 3 &
4. Mon. and Tues.: 9 am - 5 pm Contact Us: 618 Pearl St.
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