Saturday, July 14, 2007

fire flowers


I've always been more of a water type than a fire type. Too much yin, not enough yang. I am drawn to shades of blue, drawn to the water, fearful of the force of fire.

But water can drown, too. Sometimes I feel as if I've been slowly drowning from lack of fire.

I have always thought marigolds were a bit gaudy and fiery, a contradiction to my watered-down personality. But for some reason I always have to have them.


I bought this bee balm last year at the closeout sale at the greenhouse; I don't recall whether or not it was flowering at the time. Somehow, over the course of a winter, I convinced myself it was lavender colored, not fiery red. The scarlet flowers surprised me; their form even looks like fire. It's a new kind of beauty in my garden, and an outward sign of my need to kindle and feed the fire inside.

7 comments:

Madcap said...

Watered down!

You don't strike me that way AT ALL, Deb. Maybe you're quiet in "real" life, but watered down - well, I really doubt it. There's an undilute core, the real thing.

RuthieJ said...

Hi Deb,
I have the lavender bee balm at my place...I really like the red and I bet your butterflies and hummingbirds do also!

Larry said...

I wish that I had the Scarlett ones because they're better at attracting Hummingbirds than the pruple ones I have.

Anonymous said...

You may enjoy checking out the weekly wildflower reports for the North Shore:

http://www.bwca.cc/wildflowers

Deb said...

madcap- you're right, maybe "watered down" isn't the right description. "Waterlogged" perhaps?

RuthieJ and Larry- I haven't watched these flowers enough to see if they attract hummingbirds, but maybe that's why I haven't seen the hummers at my feeder much lately.

anonymous- Thanks, I'll check it out!

Jane O' said...

I have often noticed that the person who dresses and acts conservatively, will have vibrant colors in their garden or other forms of art.
I, too, am that way. I love strong colors in my gardens and quilts, and I love powerful music. It's the fire in the soul coming out.

Deb said...

Marie- Welcome, and thanks for commenting! I checked out your blog, and I love your colorful daylilies. I'll have to read it some more!