The Purple And The Green
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0241
Ah, spring is finally here in full force. And with the recent rains here in Louisville, the grass is coming back to life. Everywhere I look, lawns are transforming from patches of a sickly yellow brown to lush carpets of green and purple.
Purple? Did I just say purple?
Yes, I said purple. Don't worry, I'm not as confused as you might think. Keep reading.
As the grass begins to grow again, growing along with it on most of the lawns I see are flowers in varying shades of blue and purple. In a few cases, the blue fades away to almost white. (The flowers are so intermixed with the grass that I am assuming that they are part of the grass. Please keep in mind, though, that I am not a botanist.) The rich green of the grass is stippled, dotted, and swirled with stripes, splotches, and patches of purple and blue, creating a vivid contrast of color. On some lawns, I see almost as much purple as I do green.
By the way, this is not what gives Kentucky's bluegrass its distinctive shade. To see that, you would have to leave the grass alone, and let it grow to its full height, which is somewhere between two to three feet. That is when the seed heads develop, and it is those seed heads that give bluegrass its color and name. (And according to what I have read, Kentucky’s first settlers saw vast expanses of the grass, and that's also how Kentucky became known as "The Bluegrass State.")
Sadly, this riot of color won't last for long, though. All too soon the lawnmowers will come out, and the flowers will be buzzed down with the grass. And since they don't grow back the way the blades of grass do, the lawns will become a uniform, even boring, green.
At least until next spring.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0241
Ah, spring is finally here in full force. And with the recent rains here in Louisville, the grass is coming back to life. Everywhere I look, lawns are transforming from patches of a sickly yellow brown to lush carpets of green and purple.
Purple? Did I just say purple?
Yes, I said purple. Don't worry, I'm not as confused as you might think. Keep reading.
As the grass begins to grow again, growing along with it on most of the lawns I see are flowers in varying shades of blue and purple. In a few cases, the blue fades away to almost white. (The flowers are so intermixed with the grass that I am assuming that they are part of the grass. Please keep in mind, though, that I am not a botanist.) The rich green of the grass is stippled, dotted, and swirled with stripes, splotches, and patches of purple and blue, creating a vivid contrast of color. On some lawns, I see almost as much purple as I do green.
By the way, this is not what gives Kentucky's bluegrass its distinctive shade. To see that, you would have to leave the grass alone, and let it grow to its full height, which is somewhere between two to three feet. That is when the seed heads develop, and it is those seed heads that give bluegrass its color and name. (And according to what I have read, Kentucky’s first settlers saw vast expanses of the grass, and that's also how Kentucky became known as "The Bluegrass State.")
Sadly, this riot of color won't last for long, though. All too soon the lawnmowers will come out, and the flowers will be buzzed down with the grass. And since they don't grow back the way the blades of grass do, the lawns will become a uniform, even boring, green.
At least until next spring.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0241