There’s a short window in spring, just a week or two, really, when the mountainsides transform from the brown and gray bones of winter into a pointillist painting of a million different greens.

Here in the valley and ridge of southwest Virginia, that time is now.

As I drove to Roanoke yesterday, drizzle misted the windshield and low clouds hid the peaks of the mountains, but this diffuse light made the colors of the mountainside all the richer – pure pigments soaking the trees as if they were a fine artist’s brushes.

I refrained from taking pictures as I drove (you’re welcome, all you other drivers whom I didn’t run off the road), but for the last 24 hours the names of a million life-giving greens have been wandering through my head.

Here are just a few to inspire you, too:

peridot

emerald

lime

shamrock

chartreuse

hunter

pine

jungle

forest

eucalyptus

absinthe

grass

asparagus

moss 

olive

jade

pear

pistachio

mint

sage

jade

Every one named for a plant, fruit, or stone.  All sprung from the earth, vibrant and refreshing.

I won’t say which is my favorite, but please reveal (or add!) yours in the comments.