Iris.

My iPhone could scarcely handle the intensity of the redness...

... of this poppy... 

... located yesterday in Allen Centennial Garden... 

Peonies...

 

 

Alliums still peaking.

And here's a photo by Meade, showing, along with the alliums, the square of wheat field that's in the process of distinguishing itself from the lawn: 

Mid-May — a time for allium and hesperis.

Allium.

Redbud petals in the lawn.

Redbud.

 

Meade texted that to me from the backyard yesterday. 

I responded...

charming 

i like the way the tree looks like a bent arm wearing a very old sweater

Patchwork garden.

Iris.

Pink and white.

In the UW Arb today... pink redbud and white redbud... 

 

Pink and white magnolia... 

  

Me, in pink and white... 

Allium.

Pinkness.

In the Arb...

 

"As part of the park’s redesign, roughly an acre of concrete slab will be covered with a thermoplastic mural printed with rainbow stripes and planted with eight-foot-tall sculptural flowers as a tribute to [Black trans activist Marsha P.] Johnson..."

"... who often wore flowers in her hair. Locals are livid that the redesign doesn’t include a major expansion of green space or real flower beds. They also say that local residents never had a chance to offer meaningful feedback.... The new design was announced last August, but state officials waited until a few days before the park was set to close for construction in January to present it to Brooklyn Community Board 1....  'It’s almost stereotypical at this point. People just think, Oh, it’s queer people so we’re going to make a gay flag as a park,' said Mihalis Petrou, a horticulturist who has worked on North Brooklyn parks and who identifies as gay. 'It’s just redundant and uninventive and it’s going to have an impact on the local wildlife. We could have a nuanced tribute that honors marginalized people by celebrating nature. It’s a missed opportunity.' 'Olmsted must be rolling in his grave,' said Katie Naplatarski, a North Brooklyn parks advocate and longtime Greenpoint resident. 'To coat a park in plastic? Are you kidding me? That is so fundamentally wrong.'"

From "North Brooklyn Locals Do Not Like the Plastic Mural Proposed For Their Park" (New York Magazine).

Plastic, flowers, rainbows — when is inclusivity insulting? Is there ever a point when those who are designated for governmental uplifting rebel and say this is trite, childish, and just plain bad design?

At the Lunchtime Café...

... reflect.

At the Sunrise Café...

... you can write about whatever you like.

And do think of using the Althouse Portal to Amazon, if you are shopping.

Wild indigo.

In the sunrise light — at 5:25 — the white flowers look yellow. Why are white flowers called "indigo"? The scientific name is Baptisia lactea — and "Baptisia" is based on the Greek word for "dye." I'm a little confused about whether the wild indigo with white flowers was used to make dye. I think the answer is yes, because the dye is made from the leaves. Here are some instructions, and, by the way, a major ingredient is urine.

This was my best sunrise picture. Today was a Type #3 sunrise — completely clear sky — and the sun had already crossed the shoreline when I reached my vantage point. It doesn't work to aim the camera right at the unclouded sun. You have to get your picture when the sun first peeks over the line or point your camera at something else.

At the Third Quarter Café...

... you can talk about whatever you like.

At the Waning Gibbous Café...

... you can wax eloquent.

And you can shop though the Althouse Portal to Amazon.

At the Western Sunrise Café...

... you don't have to look right at things.



And, by the way, here is the Althouse Portal to Amazon.