Surprise Lilies

A previous owner of our home planted these beautiful Surprise Lilies. At least, I've always called them Surprise Lilies. I've also seen them called Resurrection Lilies, and Magic Lilies. Gardeners have always had regionally popular names for some flowers. This is why scientific names, in this case, Lycoris squamigera, are important. In any case, the foliage is long gone on these plants. For weeks now, I've had a withered brown mess of dead leaves. But I knew what was coming.

They smell lovely, and the colors are stunning! This morning, it was 69 degrees, so I was out taking pictures and enjoying the cool weather.

Close up...

These lovely flowers hail from Japan. They are in the amaryllis family, one of my long-time favorites.

Aren't they beautiful? And the young buds have a deeper color. The artist in me is mulling over what colors of paint would mix to produce this deep rosy-lavender. Quinacridone rose? Ultramarine violet? Permanent mauve?

More young flowers...

The only creature that didn't seem to appreciate the cooler temperatures was this bee on some goldenrod in the garden bed. It was moving very slowly.

I'm going to be doing some work on this blog over the next few weeks. I'm planning to highlight more plants and flowers, as I transition back to nature writing. I'll still be visiting art topics, and that will continue to have a botany and nature focus, as always. Thank you for visiting!

Studio Colors

The past few weeks have been busy, and one big, pleasant diversion has been the question of what color to paint the walls of my art studio. I've narrowed it down to a grey-green or a creamy white, based on both my subject matter (primarily natural subjects) and north-facing lighting, filtered by a large tree.

Both colors make me happy, frankly. And I am considering painting one wall a neutral grey, so that I will have an additional backdrop against which to view the artwork. A whole room in neutral grey would be too difficult for me to work in during the winter. It would feel too cold!

Do you have a favorite wall color for your studio? Feel free to share it with me!