Re: Seeing our gardens

Lil...that was fascinating and explains a lot of things I had wondered  
about. Thanks for sharing! Joanie
 
 
In a message dated 9/10/2009 8:30:32 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
liltovey@hotmail.com writes:

Well  Gene, seems that even the muscles that control things like how quickly
our  pupils dilate etc slow down a bit.  For example, going from bright  
light
(sun) to dim (shade) takes that microsecond longer.  Think for  example of
entering an apartment unit from a brightly lit hallway and  stepping into a 
dim
vestibule - difficult adjustment for eyes our  age.  Especially if the rest 
of
the apt., for example is usually  brighter - there are windows there. We 
become
so used to it we stop paying  attention except for the odd expletive (or in 
my
case many of them).   We unconsciously tend to to prefer sharper contrasts -
because they are  easier to see. A sharp delineation is easier to see rather
than a gradual  shading. Same holds true with colour saturation. Stronger
colours become  clearer, soft or subtle colours tend to "grey out" for us.
Simply - we see  them better! And making stronger "bones" in our gardens 
gives
us stronger  "frames" to enjoy - we can move from spot to spot with less
"bleeding" of  the visual.



Also I think that simply being the human animal  with a bit more experience
allows us to broaden our tastes and preferences  - thus I refuse to ever 
wear
black, and I will use a red purse - so in our  gardens, that neat hit of red
amoung the fine foliage can be truly  pleasing. Or the different textures
amoungst all the greens can be a  wow.  However for the aging eye -keep it
simple -too much confuses the  eye.



On on top of that - Did you know that most of the North  American population
begins to form cataracts in their 40's? Sure surprised  me.  So as well as 
the
aging eye, many people are seeing less clearly  without noticing the 
changes -
they may not realize for 20 years that they  have changed vision. So now we
have slower reaction time (muscle) along  with a a haze/screen (cataract) to
contend with. And thank goodness there  is surgery - Now that cataract 
surgery
is so easy, and can be done so much  sooner, even though the muscles 
continue
to act their age, we can see the  gardens and life so much more clearly.



Quality of light also  makes a difference, but as gardeners we all are 
aware of
it, even if we  aren't aware of being aware. Eyes react differently 
according
to time of  day, cloud cover, etc.



Anyway - you did ask -  And yes -  life is so much clearer after surgery -
having second eye done this winter  -can't wait!



Lil T.

Georgetown ON

Zone 5
>  From: genebush@netsurfusa.net
> To: perennials@hort.net
> CC:  woodyplants@hort.net
> Subject: RE: Gardens & Weather
> Date:  Wed, 9 Sep 2009 07:43:49 -0500
>
> Hello Lil,
> Would you  care to go into the subject in more depth? Fascinated by
> the topic of  color perception and how it changes with "maturity".
Especially
> in  how that would tie in with gardening.
> Hope that I have not put you on  the spot, but since you tackled that on 
for
> a whole  semester.....
>
> Gene E. Bush
> Munchkin Nursery &  Gardens,LLC
> www.munchkinnursery.com
> Garden Writer -  Photographer - Lecturer
>
>
>
>
> -----Original  Message-----
> From: owner-perennials@hort.net  [o*@hort.net] On
Behalf
> Of lil tovey
>  Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2009 9:27 PM
> To: Perennials @  hortnet
> Cc: woodyplants@hort.net
> Subject: RE: Gardens &  Weather
>
> Well Gene, I hate to have to tell you this, but the  ability of the aging
> (O.K. strike aging - lets call it maturing!) eye  to differentiate subtle
> colours diminishes as time goes on. We need  sharper contrasts, colours
> become
> bolder. Spent a whole  semester learning about light and the eye's 
reaction
> to
>  colour, shadow, etc. in college.
>
>
>
> Lil  T.
>
> Georgetown ON
>
> Zone  5
>
>
> > From: genebush@netsurfusa.net
> > To:  perennials@hort.net
> > CC: woodyplants@hort.net
> >  Subject: RE: Gardens & Weather
> > Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 09:01:18  -0500
> >
> > Well,
> > I suppose one should be  careful what they complain about /wish for.
> > It started raining  just after I sent the last message. Darn nice rain
> > yesterday  morning. Cleared up and then began again last evening. Still 
at
>  it
> > this morning. My garden has now been watered. Thoroughly. In  fact, rain
is
> a
> > strong probability every day this  week. May catch up on my paper work
yet.
> > I have been working  on clearing out a small area or two in my garden
> > where I have a  bit too much of any one plant....something took over an
> area.
>  > At first it looked good, now it is just too much. I look at it  as
exercise
> > and an opportunity to purchase more plants.  Perhaps put a bit more 
punch
> > into the garden in color choices. In  my addled old age I am 
appreciating
> > stronger color more.
>  > Is the desire for stronger colors in the garden come with  age...or
> > just me wandering around in my garden?
>  >
> > Gene E. Bush
> > Munchkin Nursery &  Gardens,LLC
> > www.munchkinnursery.com
> > Garden Writer -  Photographer - Lecturer
> >
> >
> >
>  >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:  owner-perennials@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On
>  Behalf
> > Of
> >
> > We had a 'misting' yesterday.  Our prediction today is for a 70% chance
> > of thunderstorms, but  the sky is blue and the sun is shining. I don't
> > think it's going  to happen.
> >
> > Chris
> >
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