#AtoZChallenge Colors Abound

Earlier today, I was working on a post for one of my other blogs I entered into the challenge. (I have 12 total entered. The one to which I am referring right now is Montessori Writer.) I was reflecting on the color tablets that we use in Montessori education, to help children discern not only between colors, but between variations within a color family. I don't remember using them much as a Montessori child, but I know I must have. I was the kid who always had to have the 64 box of crayons. I recognized at an early age that red flowers have many shades of red within each petal, not just that primary shade we all associate with the word. My flower drawings often included every pastel color I could squeeze in all at once. I still prefer to look at colors that way, and teach my students to do the same.

When I put together my garden every year, I like to include as many colors as I can. I start my spring with all kinds of blooming bulbs among the forget-me-nots.

In the summer, I spend hours at the nurseries, assembling plants in various combinations for pots. I make sure that I have one six-pack of every single color available in each annual. I require a multicolor row of impatiens to line my north shaded bed. I need all colors of lobelia and petunias in between the daylilies in the narrow bed on the side. I must mix all of the vibrant shades of portulaca in between my peonies. All of my roses are of different colors, and not necessarily organized by color, either. And I grow multicolored food!

I love having different colors and shapes of foliage throughout the garden, as well. The more mixed up, the better, I say!

Some people like to have a manicured garden that follow a theme in color. Yes, those are beautiful. I am just not capable of doing that. I need the different colors like the flowers need the sun and rain.