Rogue Sunflowers in the early morning with bees: three moments in time

Sunflowers in the early morning with bees by Wayne Stratz #1

 In the Garden of Nutmeg Designs, what I call Rogue Sunflowers have been arriving in masses each year. A few live to feed the bees, most are culled. A new variety is arising here in Lansdale.

Sunflowers in the early morning with bees by Wayne Stratz #2

Sunflowers in the early morning with bees by Wayne Stratz #3

Bee Balming ~ making the circuit in the garden of Nutmeg Designs

uncertain blendings --- bee purple, eternal life

My Biology students continue to read Anatomy of a Rose by Sharman Apt Russell. In the chapter on color she speaks of bee purple, something we can only believe in.

Pet peeve--- purple is not violet. As humans we can see a small range of colors, or a large range depending if you focus on wavelengths that we can't see or those that we do see. They range from red to violet. If you make a circle of that range and bring the edges together, you get purple...the blending of red light with violet light.

Bees see UV light. If you twist their range into a circle and blend... bee purple is created. Color only found in our imagination The fact that flowers look so amazing to us, is amazing. They could care less what we think. They want to catch the eye of a pollinator which sees true flower colors.

I am driving to work thinking about bee purple and wonder what would happen if we blend opposite ends of our thinking. What if we blended fear and joy? Purple visions of eternal life float through my brain. Fear of death. Joy of Resurrection. The Thrill of Hope.

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