A Different Green Every Spring

Lens-Artists Challenge #398: Choose a Color

“Nature in her green, tranquil woods heals and soothes all afflictions.”  — John Muir

Ritva sets this week’s challenge: Choose a Color. In her post, she gives us plenty of beautiful examples and ample room to respond to the challenge in various ways. I am going with one of her suggestions, that the “chosen color is the prominent hue.” Please read her post to see what other alternatives are possible. I am focusing on the color green, and you will see that these images also fit last week’s Texture challenge. Why green? It is springtime in the northern hemisphere.

I opened with an early spring dreamscape edit at Copperfield Nature Trail in Austin, Texas.

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”  — W.B. Yeats

A short tour of green across cultures

Green is the color the human eye distinguishes more shades of than any other, and almost every culture has bent that fact into meaning.

For the Aztec and Maya, green was the most precious color of all. Jade was valued above gold; the iridescent green feathers of the quetzal crowned only royalty and high priests; and the Maize God — from whose body humans were said to be formed — was rendered in green. Cenote water, fertile fields, and resurrection itself shared the same hue. The name Quetzalcóatl comes from Nahuatl words meaning “green feather,” a reminder that for these civilizations, green was inseparable from divinity, sustenance, and life itself.

“The amen of nature is always a flower.”  — Oliver Wendell Holmes

In Brazil, green is literally stitched into our identity. The verde of the flag began as a heraldic nod to the House of Bragança, but today most Brazilians read it as the Amazon — esperança (hope, in Portuguese), the lungs of the planet, a promise we are still learning to keep.

Around the rest of the world, the meanings rhyme more often than they diverge. Islam reserves green for paradise; Ireland for luck and the fair folk; Japan for eternal life; China for health and growth. What links these traditions is striking: across continents and centuries, green almost always points the same direction — toward life, renewal, water, and hope. A fitting color for a spring challenge.

The last two images are from the same flower I featured in last week’s challenge, Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), photographed here at home.

“So our human life but dies down to its root and still puts forth its green blade to eternity.”  — Henry David Thoreau

“Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises.”  — Pedro Calderón de la Barca

From nature to man-made structures, the photos you shared for Anne’s Texture challenge last week were gorgeous. I hope you will join this week’s challenge, too. Please don’t forget to use the “lens-artists” hashtag in your posts to help people find your wonderful challenge entries.

Next week, I will feature a new challenge. It will go live at noon EST in the USA. Tune in to find out more about the challenge then. Please see this page for more information about the Lens-Artists Challenge and its history. If you don’t want to miss any future challenges, please consider subscribing to the team members’ websites. Here they are:

• Tina of Travels and Trifles.
• Patti of P.A. Moed.
• Ann-Christine of Leya.
• John of Journeys with Johnbo.
• Anne of Slow Shutter Speed.
• Sofia of Photographias.
• Egídio of Through Brazilian Eyes.
• Ritva of Ritva Sillanmäki Photography.
• Beth of Wandering Dawgs.

That is the story behind the shots. If you liked this post, you may also be interested in others featuring Austin, Copperfield Nature Trail, Landscapes, Lens-Artists, Macros, Teravista, Texas, Wild Bergamot, and Wildflowers. Until the next time, keep clicking and capturing the beauty your eyes find.

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Sources:

• Mexicolore, “Which was the most precious colour for the Aztecs and why?” — https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/ask-experts/which-was-the-most-precious-colour-for-the-aztecs-and-why
• Mexicolore, “How Aztec scribes produced the colour green” — https://mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/aztec-life/how-scribes-produced-the-colour-green
• Ancient Maya Cultural Traits, “Ancient Maya Color Symbolism” — https://ancientmayaculturaltraits.com/2026/01/31/color-and-symbolism/
• Trama Textiles, “The Symbol of Guatemala: The Quetzal” — https://tramatextiles.org/blogs/trama-blog/symbol_of_guatemala_the_resplendent_quetzal
• Next Stop Brazil, “The Brazilian Flag: A Symbol of Unity and Identity” — https://www.nextstopbrazil.com/post/the-brazilian-flag-a-symbol-of-unity-and-identity
• Aventura do Brasil, “Blue, Green, Yellow — The Brazilian Flag” — https://www.aventuradobrasil.com/blog/blue-green-yellow-the-brazilian-flag/
• Color Meanings, “Color Symbolism in Different Cultures Around the World” — https://www.color-meanings.com/color-symbolism-different-cultures/
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Monarda fistulosa (Wild Bergamot) — https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=mofi
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Plantago helleri (Heller’s Plantain) — https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PLHE