Bee Balm, Monarda, blooming in our garden today.
Red for valor, hardiness, and sacrifice.
It reminds us our freedoms were won, and are maintained, through blood shed for our ideals.
Magnolia
White for purity of intent and a fresh beginning.
Eagles flying in the clearing sky this morning.
White is also the color of radiant light from heaven; the brilliant stars shining in the night sky.
Morning Glory on a pruned rose cane.
Blue for vigilance, perseverance, and justice.
Ripening blackberries grow all along the Colonial Parkway in early July.
It is interesting to consider that the colors chosen for the Colonial flags during the American Revolution, and for the flags of our new country; are the same red, white and blue of Great Britain’s Union Jack.
Wildflowers in a marsh on Jamestown Island.
The French also chose red, white and blue as the colors for their flag at the time of the French Revolution in 1790.
Blue is for liberty, White for equality, and Red for fraternity. There are many other meanings to these colors in French society, which do not necessarily have meaning in the United States.
Rose of Sharon, or tree Hibiscus.
We find these same symbolic colors again and again around us every day.
Ageratum and Lavender with Dusty Miller.
In the United States, many of us regularly wear blue denim clothing.
Blue Salvia growing with Comphrey
Denim, originally a sturdy fabric for work clothing; has become a symbol of our relaxed, egalitarian, and informal way of life here.
It has been adopted by people around the world since the social revolutions of the 1960s.
Canna and scarlet sage
White, the color of purity and cleanliness, is also a part of our daily lives.
Many of us prefer white shirts, white china, white walls, white painted wood in our gardens, white cars, and white linens. We grow white flowers in our gardens because they glow in the moonlight.
Cedar with berries
Red is the color of boldness and energy.
We admire red sports cars.
Red product logos and red street signs demand our attention. We wear shiny red shoes, bright red lipstick, and give red roses as symbols of our passion for life and living.
Caladium and Begonias Can you spot the bumblebee?
Color speaks a language of its own.
Every layer of meaning we uncover teaches us more about this world we’ve inherited, and what it means to participate in the stream of history.
Happy Independence Day!
May the Red, White, and Blue have meaning for you today, and every day.
Rosa, “John Paul II”
Photos by Woodland Gnome, 2014
Forest Garden 