Thursday, March 17, 2011

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY - Periwinkle/Vinca

9" x 12"
Arches 140#CP

Taking advantage of the sunny days and warming temperatures, the light blue/purple periwinkles are blooming away in our gardens!

These cheeful flowers with bright green foliage are drought and heat tolerant and can reach 12" -24" tall. I found these growing around the lake at the college as well as a patch of them under my neighbor's Bradford Pears.

These plants are most often planted around borders, used as edging and ground covers ... In yesterday's cloudy weather, they sure were perky!

Today is also St. Patrick's Day - in celebration of the patron saint of Ireland reputed to drive the snakes out of that country. He used the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity and over time, the 'wearing of the green' became a tradition to celebrate this saint.

We'll be celebrating green-ness today as we take our lettuces, kale, and mustards from the greenhouse and place them in their garden beds to be kissed by the sun and grown large enough to feed the hungry in our county. Temperatures will be in the 70s and from now until the weekend, we're promised summerlike weather.

It's time to be outdoors!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! PLANT SOMETHING GREEN!

2 comments:

Lorraine said...

Drop dead gorgeous painting Lin. St. Patrick would have been proud. Nice history lesson too!! The flowers themselves are so delicate and finely rendered. The leaves -- oh the leaves -- the blending and shading of the greens and blues -- all incredibly beautiful and well done. And the underpainting -- showing the flowers and leaves off to an advantage, as if bursting from the darker undergrowth. Incredible. And the bits of blue/green in the under foliage. What an inspired painting. Wow -- from yesterday to today -- such distinct and different styles and both gorgeous.

Have a great day with the greens!
Big hugs,
Lorraine

Teri said...

Happy St Pat's Day to you also Lin with those beautiful little flowers.