Colour schemes set for the arrival of Spring 2012

I have always spoken of marking the seasonal changes, nothing is more noteworthy then the youthful blush of spring. As you look around you can feel the change in the air, in the mild breeze, in the sun coming up and getting brighter, and the temperature getting warmer. Everything seems to be opening up and getting ready to welcome the tropical spring. Most of all, the colours, they seem to be so radiant, so fresh, the mauve, pink, fuchsia-magenta shades in the many different kind of flowers, starting from chrysanthemums, to dahlias, large petunias and how can one not mention the fiery colour spray of the fuchsia bougainvillea bracts as if they just told their leaves, "we don't need you now, during the spring burst". This is the time for pollination and the time for the colour pigments to hit their seasonal high, they need to attract the bees, hummingbirds and other insects. Biologists have been continuously studying these pigments of vast interest, they are so many in number and so amazing. During the fall and spring, the pigments lay out their colour palette, bringing the brilliant hue of the fall and spring. It's not the pigment, green chlorophyll nor the red-yellow carotenoids, its mostly the anthocyanins, a subgroup of flavonoids responsible for the spectacular colours of red-purple-mauve-pink-fuchsia-magenta. Would you believe the same chrysanthemum plant, that had white flowers during the foggy winter days without sunlight, is now covered with the purple-mauve flowers!! It's been studied that in the white flowers, the pigment is broken down by an enzyme and now in the presence of sunlight, the mauve pigment accumulates. The pigments, as we know, absorb specific wave lengths of light and reflect specific ones that give their visible colour. They are important for protecting the flowers-fruits-plants from UV and photodestruction by the sun rays, besides setting the ground for pollination attracting insects with their bright colours. The other vital pigments are chlorophyll, the green pigment and the many red-yellow carotenoids, which are mostly responsible for photosynthesis, the food making in plants, besides photoprotection. These are the wonders of nature, happening since billions of years, yet we remain ignorant even as we pass by them on a daily basis. The least we can do is admire the beauty displayed by them and their splendid treat of colours all around!!!