More than just lying there

Here’s the answer to that pesky question of what happens if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it:

“If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, doesn’t it just lie there and rot?”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Survivor

However in this case, the fallen tree provides a home for some moss and a lovely foreground for these blue flowers. I know we’re venturing into the “is it blue or is it purple” territory but at least parts of these flowers appear to be blue to me. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it even though they looked more blue when I was going through the archives.

Tree canopy and close-up blue

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps the singing bird will come. ~Lois Lowry

A certain blue enters your soul. ~Henri Matisse

for Squares: trees and Life in Colour: blue

Autumn tree with car and flower with butterfly

As odd as most people think it is, I miss winter or cool air, so one Saturday we drove down to Tucson and then up The Catalina Highway or Sky Island Scenic Byway, rising almost 9,100′ and through six types of vegetation. At the top, it felt alpine and we spotted bright yellow and red leaves and aspen trees as well. In addition to the leaf colors, the parking area was temporary home to this colorful beauty. The scenery on the one paved road up and back is spectacular!

For “blue”, let’s hope from the mountains of Arizona to Wyoming’s Big Horn Mountains. From what I’ve read online, I believe this is a butterfly rather than a moth but either way, its color sets off the blue of the flowers.

“Blue thou art, intensely blue; Flower, whence came thy dazzling hue?” – James Montgomery

Tree as prop and flowering blue

This tree provided contrast to a large group of flowers found along the back paths at McDowell Forest Preserve while I was back in Illinois a few months ago.

Jude, this blue‘s for you and Cee, here’s my FOTD (flower of the day.)

“I need the shade of blue that rips your heart out. You don’t see that type of blue around here.”
― Cath Crowley, Graffiti Moon

Friday flowers…blue

Friday flowers…ring those bells

Harebell. AKA bellflower, lady’s thimble, witch’s thimble, heathbells, fairies’ thimbles, or dead men’s bells.   These bells were still ringing in August in Wyoming.

Harebell was formerly used in the manufacture of blue dye for tartans and is the symbol of the MacDonald clan. The common name of harebell alludes to the folk beliefs that it either grew in places frequented by hares or that witches used juices squeezed from this flower to transform themselves into hares. The Haida Indians of the Pacific Northwest called them “blue rain flowers” and it was thought that picking them would cause it to rain. In Europe the leaves are sometimes eaten raw in salad and the plant is thought to have minor medicinal qualities.

Source: USDA