Oh to be a Giant Tecolote Ranunculus waving free in the breeze...
Took a departure and had a marvelous time lost in the moment slapping paint on and scraping paint off my canvas. When finished with the background the Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch called to me. About a third of the nearly 50 acres of Giant Tecolote Ranunculus flowers were in bloom when we visited during a sunny but somewhat windy early spring day.
Apparently the name "Tecolote" comes from the owls that nested on the original farm property in South Oceanside. The flowers at the ranch are the careful result of nearly 100 years of cultivation. Originally the ranunculus were a single petal flower in shades of red and yellow. However, if nature provided an odd ball - a full flower or an unusual color - the seed was saved and planted the following year. Today they are full flowers in thirteen colors including picotee or variegated.
I'm thinking "Tecolote" is for "wise like an owl." Instead of cutting down or stamping out the one that stands out, is fuller, more colorful, or just unusual from the rest, it is saved, treasured, planted, nurtured and seen as a thing of beauty. If only we always nurtured one another like this. In time, perhaps we would all become big, beautiful Giant Tecolote Ranunculuses.
More info: darla-nyren.pixels.com
