Color in the Garden: Melon

Melon is not a common color in the garden. Too much red, and flowers err on the side of orange. Too much yellow, and they exude harvest gold. Red and yellow must hang slightly askew, with preference accorded to yellow--and that just may be too much to ask for from domineering red.


So these tulips, which I did not plant, seem, at least to me, a rare exception in the garden.


At times they appear pink. At times orange. But often: melon. I never did photograph them fully open when they revealed their full, melon ripeness.

Melon evokes freshness. It is summer's casual elegance.

Its fleeting appearance each spring anticipates the months to come: the months of maturation and profligacy, the months of languor and ebullience.