The common marigold. Or is it so common? Right off the bat it has three great things going for it:
- an attractive name ~ suggesting merry and gold;
- a musky, pungent scent; and
- vibrant color.
This burnt crimson and yellow blossom in my garden astonished me with its boldness. Ah, so this is where royal designers found their inspiration when fashioning heraldic shields and crests! On second thought, it could be the idea behind some of the more outrageous umbrellas we spot on the beach during the summer. Or better yet, the marigold’s colors ~ summoned from childhood imagination ~ mirror the vivid stripes of Cinderella’s footman’s fine regalia.
The 4th great thing about the marigold is that it encourages the mind to playfulness and creativity. But who would have guessed that ~ right off the bat?!!
This week’s image ~ above right ~ Harlequin Marigold.
Thumbnail image by Swami Stream, Creative Commons.
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The northern part of South America ~ the so-called Guyana Shield ~ is one of the least populated areas of the world and preserves a fragment of pre-Columbian conditions of the continent. The beautiful Harlequin beetles are still common there and their bodies are large enough to support communities of smaller organisms that spend their entire lives on the wings of the beetles, feeding off each other or simply using the beetle as a convenient way to move from one tree to another.