Tom Maddux, a specialist garden guide, spend Sunday May 3rd leading walks in the Winterthur Garden. He shares his experience below.
I have often heard the phrase: “In the garden; every day is a good day”. Sunday, May 3rd, in cloudiness and drizzling rain, I saw an example of how true this is in the Winterthur garden.
It was a day that might be described as being dull, dreary, dingy and dismal. It might have been that way somewhere else but we were in the Winterthur garden where beauty and color and fragrance were vibrant.
The pinks, reds, and purples of the azaleas were radiant. We saw a blue bird that had a deeper blue hue than I have ever seen on a so called “nice” day. The eastern red buds were more brilliant than they had been the day before in the sun light. The different shades of the lilacs showed more contrasting than they had the day before. Yes, the scent of the lilacs and peonies was much more intense because of the wonderful humidity.
It was the perfect day to see the quarry garden, as the primroses are more profuse than I have ever seen them with bright reds, yellows and purples mixing with the remaining Virginia blue bells. Blue bells were also on the quarry ledges, looking down on the other flowers. The gray of the quarry rocks was grayer making for more vivid floral color. The floor of the quarry with its large number of flowers, and lack of shadows resulted in giving the appearance of a beautiful quilt.
My artist wife explains to me that sunlight removes or washes out color. With sunlight we have shadows that actually hide the beauty at times. The gloominess also has a flattening effect which brings the colors closer together as in the quarry garden quilt.
There were several enthusiastic and advanced photographers joining me in the grayness. I think they know something. Come see for yourself; the beauty on a dismal day in the spring.
