Saturday, May 8, 2010

Something Green

Everything has suddenly turned very, very lushly green.  Each Spring this seems to happen virtually overnight. One day, you know Spring is coming, you see little buds peeking out, and the trees start to bloom... then- GREEN!

This got me thinking about the color green and all its permutations, and, well, I decided to see just how many shades of green people had actually attached names to.  This turned out to be well-nigh impossible because, apparently, you can call a color anything you want, especially if you happen to be a paint company.  "Uphill" and "Cabbage Patch", are names for colors of green paint, for example.  I also learned that the computer can distinguish over nine million shades of green (!).  Humans, not so much.

This site listed 99 shades of green, but some of them seem pretty weird, like "Bile"- yuk!  Here's a partial, non-definitive list I compiled from those that seemed reasonable. (A lot of them refer to vegetables, which makes me hungry!)

 Algae, Amazon, Apple,

                                                Aquamarine,                   (Kinneyconnick Creek)
 
Army, Avocado, Bottle, Brussels, Cactus, Camo, Caribbean,


                                   Celadon,                                                              ( Lamb's ear)

Celery,

                                                  Chartreuse,                             (Wild grape)

Chromium, Clover, Cornsilk, Drab, Electricity, Emerald, Eucalyptus,


                                                Fern,                                       (Wood Fern)

Fir, Forest, Glass, Goblin, Gooseberry, Grass, Hookers, Honeydew, Hunter, Jade, Jungle, Juniper, Kelly, Laurel, Lawn, Lime, Malachite, Mallard, Ming, Mint, Moss, Office,


                                                 Olive             (Reflection, Kinneyconnick Creek)

Olivine, Parrot, Pea, Perylene, Phthalo, Pickle,


                                    Pine,                                                                  (White pine)          

Pistachio, Sage, Sap, Shamrock, Spinach,


                 Spring,                                                  (budding leaves, Kinneyconnick, Kentucky)

Spruce, Teal, Turquoise, Verdigris,

                                              Veridian,                                         (Wild Rose)

Willow, Zucchini.

8 comments:

  1. never thought of this before-- all the lovely shades of green with names-- and your images to go with them are wonderful

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  2. I agree with Donna, I couldn't decide which I liked more the names or the photos....both actually!

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  3. Sharmon I love your many green photos...sometimes there just aren't enough words to describe the beauty we see in nature...the depth, the breadth, the endless permutations...green is so lush and glorious, and you are so right...it starts out slow and then one morning you wake up and the world is fully dressed!!!

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  4. Fab fotos (as usual) and a delightful stroll through the green.

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  5. And then there's the shade of green I feel when I appreciate your eye for pattern, form and beauty - envy.

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  6. Utility Green - 40's england I think that is. Never thought about how we name colour!

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  7. That was fun Sharmon! I know I'll be looking t the varied shades of green, and probably other colors, with a very attentive eye today!
    The names of colors are pretty hilarious. My mother worked for Glidden paints when we were growing up, and part of her job was coming up with color names - so it was a dinner time game, coming up with yet another color name for beige...

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  8. stunning photos and a great idea to share shades of green. I love ming and goblin.

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