When Color Threatens

Scotch Broom...aka Cytsius Scoparius.

This invasive weed is everywhere in the Pacific Northwest. A native of the Mediterranean, it was imported to British Columbia in the mid 19^th century by Captain Walter Grant for cultivation on his Vancouver Island farm. And just as with the introduction of starlings, nobody knew it was invasive with insidious effects.

One unassuming plant can go from this.

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To this.

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To this.

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And finally, to this, in which it is no longer beautiful, but becomes a yellow blight of oversaturation on our springtime verdant hillsides, breaking the Law of Chromatic Distribution.

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Now I am wondering two things. Has it proliferated so because it is bright yellow and it beckons pollinators at every turn? And second, doesn’t all this yellow serve as a warning as does a bumble bee, a yield sign, a school bus or some caution tape? Is it telling us by its golden yellow color, Pantone 130 PC, that if we don’t do something soon, we’ll all find ourselves strangled by this yellow invader?

In my opinion, there is only one good thing about this plant. If one is so lucky to be in earshot of its exploding pods in late autumn, one is in for an auditory treat.

Just to let you know, when I design with color, I exercise a little more restraint than Cytsius Scoparius.

ebrown@eb-color.com 206-353-0454