In winter I think of ornamental kale and cabbage.  I have never grown these cold weather architectural staples. Here is a classic pose.  This image is from Osbourne Seeds, a company that carries a wide variety of ornamental Brassicas. The whorl of rosettes is governed by the mathematical pattern called Fibonacci numbers. Fibonacci numbers comprise a sequence: 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55..........

The first number of the sequence is 0, the second number is 1, and each subsequent number is equal to the sum of the previous two numbers of the sequence itself...

See the Wikipedia entry here. Turns out that this pattern also gives rise to relationships of proportion and beauty in art and architecture. The Golden Section and the Golden Mean.  Underneath the beauty of petals and leaves is Nature's math.  How heady is that?

The Walrus and The Carpenter

Lewis Carroll

UVA scientists last April released results confirming that air pollution interferes with scent released by flowers. This data suggests one factor in the decline of bees and other pollinators.  On problem is that air pollution interferes with the movement of scent molecules in the atmosphere.  In other words, the fragrance of a rose cannot travel as far amid pollution as it would under less polluted conditions.  See this video at Science Daily.

"The scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment, such as in the 1800s, could travel for roughly 1,000 to 1,200 meters; but in today's polluted environment downwind of major cites, they may travel only 200 to 300 meters," said Jose D. Fuentes, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia and a co-author of the study. "This makes it increasingly difficult for pollinators to locate the flowers." (My emphasis!)

The photo on the article home page shows three darling nerdie scientists kneeling in front of daffodils.  Only about a third of daffodil varieties are scented.  OK. I will give them this.  But the first two flowers in the video are incredibly UNscented:  oakleaf hydrangea and the classic orange ditch lily.  The third flower is a single shrub rose, whose scent, like the daffies, is not likely.

Permit me this peeve:  I dislike the random pairing of a flower without scent as a visual with articles about scent.  For example, I could post a Gerbera daisy photo with this post -- which I have -- as an occasion of such a sin.

                                                             NO SCENT ever in such a flower.  

This text is clipped from one of Charles Darwin's books. Darwin used Primula species to examine some of his ideas concerning variability and selection across several plant generations.

This reminds us of the visionary work of Gregor Mendel on generations of pea plants.   I am not sure if Mendel worked on pea plants that yielded peas to eat or if he worked on sweet peas.  More on that later.  In the mean time, we will ponder here the lowly yet elevated Primula. See this book, On The Different Forms Of Flowers On Plants Of The Same Species, available on line at the Darwin Literature site. 

Of course, pictures of plants help greatly.  Primrose yellow could be the purest hue in the gilt palette. Here is the citation note for this classic image:  Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany. For more information and access, go to www.biolib.de

Note:  this image is a thumbnail. Click to see a moderately larger one. I should mention that I found this image on Wikipedia.  Some generous German is kind to have scanned and uploaded this.

this year.  I usually find two or three exquisitely-wrought jewel cases when raking.  

Consider this bit of Graffiti, a facebook application.  Th animation reveals the artist's path in rendering this caterpillar.

Elizabethan blackwear -- embroidery on light-colored fabric -- is lovely in a spiderweb way.  Look at this sample pattern for a cowslip border. This pattern comes from the Blackworkarchives, a site devoted to Renaissance stitchery.

I love cowslips, a progenitor of primroses.  Last year, at great trouble and cost from an Ebay plant provider, I bought a wan little cowslip.  I do hope that this pale yellow darling emerges this spring.  On Dartmouth street in my town is a plot that used to feature cowslips.  The gardener's grandmother kept them going each spring. Absent the last two years from this corner plot, the cowslips may have faded. Therefore, I so hope that my efforts yield a little something.  

Where the bee sucks, there suck I
In a cowlip's bell I lie
       - THE TEMPEST

 

Coda on Cowslips: Primula veris, but the common name is from "cowpat," from where cowslips would spring up when they were common in the wild. Some say this means cow pie but others think cow pasture. These meadow flowers are also known as Fairy Cups and Mayflowers.  The yellow gives rise to the hue primrose.The fragrance is gentle and understated.