Okay, I'll have to accept that...what this simple definition does, is leave lots of room for personal interpretation. I have seen way too many shades and hues of green trying to pass for what my brain wants to perceive as "chartreuse". You see, the precise exact perfect personal chartreuse registers some magical extremely specific little nook in my brain. I find myself actually repulsed by some things, always man-made, that often call themselves "chartreuse", but to me are really somebody else's interpretation of chartreuse. Pantone parades out a marvelous array of new names every year to describe their range of yellow-greens. Benjamin Moore pays talented people a lot of money to rename and reinvent their pallet of yellow-greens. regularly. Roget's has almost one hundred words to elaborate on "green". This gives me a clue that (a), there ARE infinite shades of green, and (b), the human eye and brain interprets these greens very personally indeed.
Back to the subject of my reflections: my chartreuse... my spring visual awakening... my garden. Today the weather is doing what it does around here this month, clashing back and forth, twisting and turning, uncommitted so far whether to wake up or continue to slumber (much as I do myself in the early hours of the morning). Last night it was in the low 30's, right now it is windy, rainy for a while, then a snow flurry will furiously pass through, then depart with nary a trace. This we must endure for a few more weeks, dashing outside to pull a few weeds, toss the compost on the veggie garden, or prune the last of the old hellebore leaves when the goddess of Spring peeks out of her coverlets. What sustains me when literally being outdoors is just too cold or muddy, is the sight of ... yes of course ... chartreuse.
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| cuppressus 'Wilma Goldcrest' and tsuga canadensis 'Everett's Gold' |
The plants bred to be "aurea" really fulfill their purpose right now. As brilliant as they are in the depth of winter, or against the backdrop of dark pines or laurels, they now buddy up with the emerging leaves and flowers of hellebore, corylopsis spicata, the new growth on cupressus 'Wilma Goldcrest', the stems of cornus sericea, 'winter fire' (truly flamelike...with red and yellow, heating up the woodland terrace bed). A hardy fuchsia in the Long Bed never went down in the mild winter this year. It has cheered me every day when I stand in the living room window gazing at the view.
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| Japanese forest grass, oregano and berberis, all 'aurea' |
I suppose, eventually, my climbing roses will festoon the potting shed, but painting the whole thing chartreuse was a stoke of genius. There's no doubt my purpose was not to camouflage the utility shed...it was to make a statement...and indeed it does...cheerfully, brightly, homogeneously and usefully, out there...both a backdrop for the soon to leaf out viburnum plicatum and royal purple irises in May, and the brilliant fall foliages of my acer palmatum collection in the fall.
What fun, chartreuse! And every one of its permutations!
