2016’s First Lahaina Noon Is May 15; Next 2016 Lahaina Noon Is July 11

Summary: 2016’s first Lahaina Noon, in which the sun is directly overhead at solar noon, happens Sunday, May 15, at 12:19 p.m. in Hilo, Hawaii.

Lahaina Noon, with shadowless downtown Honolulu; Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 12:27:51: Daniel Ramirez (jdnx), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

The first occurrence of 2016’s first Lahaina Noon, in which the sun is directly overhead at solar noon, happens Sunday, May 15, at 12:19 p.m. Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time (HAST), at Ka Lae, known as South Point. Located on the Big Island, Ka Lae marks the southernmost points of both the Hawaiian Islands and the United States.

Hawaii is the only state in the United States where the tropical solar phenomenon, known popularly as Lahaina Noon, occurs. The state’s location in the tropics, south of the Tropic of Cancer, accounts for the Hawaiian Islands’ experience of a truly overhead sun twice year, in May and again in July. The tropical band, northward 23.4371 degrees from the Equator to the Tropic of Cancer and southward 23.4371 degrees to the Tropic of Capricorn, is the only place on Earth where the sun reaches its zenith, or highest point in the sky, and sunlight angles perpendicularly with the Earth’s surface, at solar noon.

Times and dates of the zenith passage depend upon tropical latitude. The most southerly of Hawaii’s eight major, windward islands experience May 2016's Lahaina Noon earlier than the most northerly windward islands. The May 2016 schedule for Lahaina Noon spans Sunday, May 15, to Monday, May 30.

Hawaii’s largest museum, the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Oahu’s historic Kalihi district, gives times for May 2016’s Lahaina Noon for 11 locations. The next timed occurrence of Lahaina Noon, after Ka Lae’s initial welcome, takes place Wednesday, May 18. Hilo, on the Island of Hawaii’s east central coast, experiences Lahaina Noon at 12:16 p.m. HAST (10:16 Coordinated Universal Time).

Four minutes after Hilo’s overhead sun, the next Lahaina Noon takes place. On May 18, at 12:20 p.m. HAST (10:16 UTC) in Kailua-Kona. Kailua-Kona is sited on the Big Island’s west central coast.

On Monday, May 23, Hana welcomes the zenith sun at 12:20 p.m. HAST (10:20 UTC). Hana is located on the east coast of Maui. Maui is the Hawaiian Islands’ second largest island.

Also on May 23, Lanai City, in central Lanai, experiences the overhead sun at 12:24 p.m. HAST (10:24 UTC). The Hawaiian Islands’ sixth largest island lies west of Maui.

On Tuesday, May 24, Kahului welcomes Lahaina Noon at 12:22 p.m. HAST (10:22 UTC). Kahului is located on the northern side of Maui’s isthmus.

One minute later, at 12:23 p.m. HAST (10:23 UTC), Lahaina claims the overhead sun. The tropical getaway in West Maui has a storied history as the center of the global whaling industry and as a two-time royal capital, anciently for Maui and recently, from 1820 to 1845, for the Kingdom of Hawaii.

On Wednesday, May 25, Kaunakakai witnesses Lahaina Noon at 12:25 p.m. HAST (10:25 UTC). Kaunakakai is located on the south shore of Molokai, the fifth largest of the eight main Hawaiian Islands.

On Thursday, May 26, Honolulu experiences the zenith sun at 12:28 p.m. HAST (10:25 UTC). The Hawaiian Islands’ largest city is located on the southeastern shore of Oahu, third largest of the main Hawaiian Islands.

On Friday, May 27, exactly 24 hours after Honolulu’s Lahaina Noon, Kaneohe observes the overhead sun at 12:28 p.m. HAST (10:28 UTC). Kaneohe is sited on Oahu’s northeastern shore.

The last Lahaina Noon time given by the Bishop Museum takes place Monday, May 30. Lihue greets Lahaina Noon at 12:35 p.m. HAST. Lihue is located on the southeastern coast of Kauai, the fourth largest of the eight main Hawaiian Islands.

The second sweep of Lahaina Noon for 2016 takes place in July. Hawaii’s windward islands variously experience Lahaina Noon from Monday, July 11, to Thursday, July 28.

The popular term of Lahaina Noon originates in a naming contest held by the Bishop Museum in 1990. Lahaina derives from the Hawaiian word Lā haina, which means “cruel sun.”

The takeaway for May 15 as 2016’s first Lahaina Noon and July 11 as the second Lahaina Noon sweep across the eight main Hawaiian Islands is that the tropical solar phenomenon gives a true experience of the zenith sun to residents of and visitors to the United States’ paradisical 50th state.

overhead sun, with sunlight angled perpendicularly with the Earth's surface, only happens in tropical band demarcated northward by the Tropic of Cancer and southward by the Tropic of Capricorn: cmglee/NASA, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Lahaina Noon, with shadowless downtown Honolulu; Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 12:27:51: Daniel Ramirez (jdnx), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/danramarch/4674121288/

overhead sun, with sunlight angled perpendicularly with the Earth's surface, only happens in tropical band demarcated northward by the Tropic of Cancer and southward by the Tropic of Capricorn: cmglee/NASA, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Axial_tilt_vs_tropical_and_polar_circles.svg

For further information:

Ali, Nancy Alima. “Noon Sun Not Directly Overhead Everywhere.” Star Bulletin Archives. May 11, 2010.
Available @ http://archives.starbulletin.com/content/20100511_Noon_sun_not_directly_overhead_everywhere/

Bryan, E.H. (Edwin Horace), Jr.; Richard Crowe; and Timothy F. Slater. Stars Over Hawaii. Third revised edition. Hilo HI: Petroglyph Press, 2015.

“Lahaina Noon 2016: Tips to Avoid Sunburn on Hawaii Vacations.” Beat of Hawaii. April 30, 2016.
Available @ http://beatofhawaii.com/lahaina-noon-10-tips-to-avoid-sunburn-on-hawaii-vacation/

"Lahaina Noon 2016: When the Sun Casts no Shadow." Okunomichi > May 2016.
Available @ https://okunomichi.wordpress.com/2016/05/07/1711/

“May 2016 Skies.” University of Hawaii at Hilo ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center > Sky Information > Monthly Star Charts and Sky Calendars > 2016.
Available @ http://www.imiloahawaii.org/assets/SkyChartMay2016.pdf

“Skywatch May 2016.” Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum.
Available @ http://www.bishopmuseum.org/skywatch-may-2016/

Mother of Thousands: Curiosities in North American Mothers Day Gardens

Summary: North American Mothers Day gardens change outdoor wastelands into colorful, plant-packed curiosities and control Madagascar's mother of thousands indoors.

A native of Madagascar, mother of thousands (Bryophyllum daigremontianum; Kalanchoe daigremontiana) is a succulent that shows well in courtyard and indoor settings; Sunday, Feb. 28 , 2016, 09:54:50: onlineplantexchange.com, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

North American Mothers Day gardens accept the non-native mother of thousands as indoor curiosity and interior courtyard plants in Canada, in Mexico and in the United States outside California, Florida and Texas.

The exotic houseplant from the southwestern part of the southwest Indian Ocean island of Madagascar off coastal southeastern Africa behaves competitively and curiously indoors and outdoors. The contracted light, moisture and soil and the constant temperature control the Southern Hemisphere succulent's life cycle inside while frost and sunscorch cut its longevity outside. The relative of flaming Katy and jade plants, fellow Crassulaceae family members and Madagascar native flora, delivers flowering delights dwarfed by dashing foliage deft in cloning.

Embroidery-like plantlets emerge along leaf edges and exit, upon establishing roots for independent existences, in bare or vegetated ground, cracked pavement, potted soil or split wood.

The mother of thousands freely fills plant-friendly habitats indoors and, during summer, plant-loving niches outdoors by following through on the function formulated by its common names. The leaves' snout-, vertebrae-, sombrero-reminiscent reproductive growth generates the common names of alligator plant, alligator tongue, devil's backbone and Mexican hat plant and of maternity plant.

Thirty-six- to 48-inch (91.44- to 121.92-centimeter-) tall plants have one 18- to 35-inch- (45.72- to 88.9-centimeter-) high stem holding inward-curling, opposite-arranged, sawtooth-edged leaves at eight-degree angles. Blue-green leaves incline toward spear-shaped impressions with widths half that of their 4- to 10-inch (10.16- to 25.4-centimeter) lengths and include purple blotches on their undersides.

Leaves and stems jumble brown speckles and white spots when aphid, mealybug and scale pests, direct sunlight and waterlogged soils jeopardize North American Mothers Day gardens.

Soil moisture wrung-out sponge-like in consistency and temperature ranges between 61 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit (16.11 and 26.88 degrees Celsius) keep the mother of thousands kempt.

Mother of thousands lives through drought and salt stress and temperatures above the upper extreme but not those from 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.44 degrees Celsius) downward. Balanced liquid fertilizers every March, June and September and irrigation every fortnight maintain the cactus potting mix's air and moisture pore spaces and soluble nutrient levels. Terracotta planters and pots with drainage holes respectively need 6- to 10-inch (15.24- to 2.4-centimeter) interplant spacing and 2- to 6-inch (5.08- to 15.24-centimeter) spring-repotted sizing.

Indirectly sunlit, 1-inch (2.54-centimeter), room-temperature, soil- not plant-splashed sprinkles obstruct root rot and optimize unpredictable mother of thousands' bloom times in North American Mothers Day gardens.

Proper procedures in proper environments promote autumn and winter production of chandelier-like, downward-hanging clusters of gray-lavender, orange, pink, trumpet-like 0.8-inch (2.03-centimeter) flowers atop 12-inch (30.48-centimeter) stalks.

All-poisonous parts and Bryophyllum daigremontianum (sprout-leaf of the daigremontianin-filled plant) or Kalanchoe dagremontiana (blue temple plant filled with daigremontianin) qualify as mammal-unfriendly concerns and scientific names. Poisonous proliferation remains problematic since taxonomies by Joseph Perrier (Aug. 11, 1873-Oct. 2, 1958) and Raymond-Hamet (1890-1972) and by Alwin Berger (Aug. 28, 1871-April 20, 1931). It suggests shunning by, and separating from, animal, old, sick or young household members and staging, under budget, in underplanted and unplanted niches inside and out.

North American Mothers Day gardens tether the Androhibolava Mountains' and the Fiherenana River's world-famous succulent in courtyards and interiors and transform wastelands into mowable, plant-packed vistas.

Mother of thousands is disfavored as a North American garden plant in a trio of U.S. states (California, Florida, Texas) that lists the naturalized succulent as a noxious invasive; flowering mother of thousands succulent in Harris County, Texas; Sunday, March 1, 2009, 16:02:41: A Yee (ArturoYee), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

A native of Madagascar, mother of thousands (Bryophyllum daigremontianum; Kalanchoe daigremontiana) is a succulent that shows well in courtyard and indoor settings; Sunday, Feb. 28 , 2016, 09:54:50: onlineplantexchange.com, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/140263584@N06/24736901893/

Mother of thousands is disfavored as a North American garden plant in a trio of U.S. states (California, Florida, Texas) that lists the naturalized succulent as a noxious invasive; flowering mother of thousands succulent in Harris County, Texas; Sunday, March 1, 2009, 16:02:41: A Yee (ArturoYee), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/57412095@N05/5413243431/

For further information:

"Bryophyllum daigremontianum." PlantLust > Plant Index.
Available @ http://plantlust.com/plants/6071/bryophyllum-daigremontianum/

"Bryophyllum diagremontianum." Plants & Flowers > Plants Rescue.
Available @ http://www.plantsrescue.com/bryophyllum-daigremontianum/

"Bryophyllum daigremontianum (Raym.-Hamet & H. Perrier) A. Berger. LLIFLE Encyclopedias of Living Forms > Succulents > Family > Crassulaceae > Bryophyllum.
Available @ http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/SUCCULENTS/Family/Crassulaceae/14431/Bryophyllum_daigremontianum

Cammidge, Jacki. "Kalanchoe daigremontiana." Drought Smart Plants: Succulents and the Gardens and Containers to Plant Them In > Plants > Drought Tolerant Plants.
Available @ http://www.drought-smart-plants.com/kalanchoe-daigremontiana.html

"How to Care for a Bryophyllum Daigremontianum Plant." SFGate > Business > Home Guides > Garden > Garden Care.
Available @ http://homeguides.sfgate.com/care-bryophyllum-daigremontianum-plant-22308.html

Laurent, Anna. "Mother of Thousands Plant, Kalanchoe Daigremontiana." Garden Design Magazine > Succulents > Popular Succulent Plants.
Available @ https://www.gardendesign.com/succulents/mother-of-thousands.html

"Mother of Thousands." Guide to Houseplants.
Available @ http://www.guide-to-houseplants.com/mother-of-thousands.html

"Mother of Thousands Care Tips." Guide to Houseplants > House Plant Encyclopedia A-Z > Cacti and Other Succulents.
Available @ http://www.guide-to-houseplants.com/mother-of-thousands.html

"Mother of Thousands Plant." Serenata Flowers > Pollennation > Plants.
Available @ https://www.serenataflowers.com/pollennation/mother-of-thousands-plant/

Raymond-Hamet; and Perrier de la Bâthie. 1914. "Kalanchoe daigremontiana." In "Nouvelle Contribution à l'Étude des Craculacées Malgaches," Annales de l'Institut Botanico-Géologique Colonial de Marseille. Serie 3, vol. 2: 128-132.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924069821373;view=1up;seq=140

North American Mayflower Gardens and Woodlands for Trailing Arbutus

Summary: The trailing arbutus in North American mayflower gardens and woodlands is the favorite flower of Massachusetts, Mayflower Pilgrims and Nova Scotia.

trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens) along Bass Lake Trail in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, northwestern Lower Peninsula, northwestern Michigan; Saturday, March 24, 2012, 14:49:42: Jim Sorbie, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Trailing arbutus appears early on in English Colonial American culture as the first flower appreciated by the Mayflower Pilgrims in subsequent Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and quickly thereafter in North American mayflower gardens.

The flowering shrub belongs among North American floral emblems as Nova Scotia's provincial flower since April 4, 1901, and Massachusetts' state flower since May 17, 1925. Its additional common name, mayflower, comes from its namesake, anchored in colonial Massachusetts Nov. 11, 1620-April 5, 1621, and from its February through May bloom times. The common names ground laurel and trailing arbutus and the scientific name Epigaea repens (upon the ground creeping) respectively describe surface-hugging growth and laurel-like, madrone-like traits.

Membership in the Ericaceae plant family of heath and heather relatives expresses the fragrantly flowering, fruiting subshrub's endurance of acidic, forest-edge, shaded forest and woodland soils.

The evergreen relative of the Asian species Epigaea asiatica in Japan and Epigaea gaultherioides in Georgia and Turkey favors slow-growing fulfillment of its perennial life cycles.

Mature mayflower height goes from minimums of 4 to 6 inches (10.16 to 15.24 centimeters) to maximums of 1 to 3 feet (0.31 to 0.91 meters). Both the lower and the upper ranges have fibrous roots easily harmed by man-made disturbances from grazing and lumbering and natural disturbances from droughts and floods. Spreading 1.18- to 15.7-inch (0.3- to 4-decimeter) branches include 0.79- to 2.76-inch (2- to 7-centimeter) by 0.59- to 1.57-inch (1.5- to 4-centimeter) leaves on rusty-haired petioles.

The trailing arbutus in North American mayflower gardens juggles alternate, aromatic, elliptic to oval, evergreen, leathery, simple leaves with hairy undersides, rounded bases and smooth upper-sides.

Plymouth mayflower alternate arrangements keep one leaf at the nodal meeting of foliage and stem on one side down or up from another on the other.

Aromatic, radially symmetrical, trumpet-shaped flowers, 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) across when open, link five overlapping sepals into a calyx and five pink, red or white petals. Plymouth Rock mayflowers with pink to white, salver-shaped, 0.39- to 0.75-inch (10- to 19-millimeter) corollas merge into fragrant, small axillary and terminal clusters on hairy stems. April to June fruiting times need cross-pollination since individuals nurture one fertile column-like pistil, one five-lobed stigma and one pistil and 10 sterile stamens or vice-versa.

North American mayflower gardens offer ant- and bird-dispersable brown seeds from explosive, fleshy, green-white, raspberry-like fruit 0.19 to 0.32 inches (5 to 8 millimeters) in diameter.

Trailing arbutus, described by Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778) in 1753, prefers humus-rich, peaty-, sandy-soiled heath, oak and pine stands with pHs below 6.8.

Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan qualify as the northernmost trailing arbutus-friendly clearings, rockeries and woodlands. Mayflowers regale Alabama, the Carolinas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York. They survive Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin and West Virginia at minus 40 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 to 30 degrees Celsius).

North American mayflower gardens and woodlands historically treat wildlife-lovers to families of spring- and summer-feeding elf (Microtia elva) and hoary elfin (Calliphrys polios) butterflies and caterpillars.

trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens) in Great Falls Park, Fairfax County, northern Virginia; Tuesday, March 26, 2013, 15:31: Fritz Flohr Reynolds (Fritzflohrreynolds), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens) along Bass Lake Trail in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, northwestern Lower Peninsula, northwestern Michigan; Saturday, March 24, 2012, 14:49:42: Jim Sorbie, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/jsorbie/6871412574/

trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens) in Great Falls Park, Fairfax County, northern Virginia; Tuesday, March 26, 2013, 15:31: Fritz Flohr Reynolds (Fritzflohrreynolds), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Epigaea_repens_-_Trailing_arbutus.jpg

For further information:

"Adirondack Wildflowers: Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens)." Adirondack Visitor Information Center > Adirondack Wildlife & Plants > Wildflowers.
Available @ http://www.adirondackvic.org/Adirondack-Wildflowers-Trailing-Arbutus-Epigaea-repens.html

"Chapter 10. An Act Respecting the Floral Emblem of Nova Scotia." Page 36 in The Statutes of Nova Scotia Passed in the First Year of the Reign of His Majesty King Edward VII, Being the Fourth Session of the Thirty-Second General Assembly Convened in the Said Province. Halifax, NS, Canada: Commissioner of Public Works and Mines, King's Printer.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=tIQwAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA36&lpg=RA1-PA36&dq=nova+scotia+act+of+legislature+1901+trailing+arbutus&source=bl&ots=XPDjZ2EOjG&sig=ZoBDz1Ok-2fIQBlWps5yj8M-HRc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjo6N-UwInVAhWpwlQKHSNGAU4Q6AEIOjAD#v=onepage&q=nova%20scotia%20act%20of%20legislature%201901%20trailing%20arbutus&f=false
Available via Government of Nova Scotia Debates and Proceedings @ http://0-nsleg-edeposit.gov.ns.ca.legcat.gov.ns.ca/deposit/Statutes/1901.pdf

"Epigaea repens." The University of Texas at Austin > Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center > Plant Database.
Available @ https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=epre2

"Epigaea repens L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/12300017

"Epigaea repens L - Trailing Arbutus." United States Department of Agriculture > Natural Resources Conservation Service > Plants Database > Plant Profile.
Available @ https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=epre2

"Epigaea repens L. - Trailing-Arbutus." Go Botany > New England Wildflower Society > Simple Key > All Other Flowering Non-Woody Plants > All Other Herbaceous, Flowering Dicots.
Available @ https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/species/epigaea/repens/

Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. "1. Epigaea repens." Species Plantarum, tomus I: 395. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358414
Available via Missouri Botanical Garden Library's Botanicus Digital Library @ http://www.botanicus.org/page/358414

Mattus, Matt. 21 April 2014. "Mayflowers, and the Trailing Arbutus Clause." Growing with Plants.
Available @ http://www.growingwithplants.com/2014/04/mayflowers-and-trailing-arbutus-clause.html

"Section 7." The 190th General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts > General Laws > Part I > Title I > Chapter 2.
Available @ https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleI/Chapter2/Section7

Shetler, Stanwyn G. "2001 Trailing-Arbutus (Epigaea Repens)." Virginia Native Plant Society > Wildflowers of the Year.
Available @ http://vnps.org/wildflowers-of-the-year/2001-trailing-arbutus-epigaea-repens/

"Trailing Arbutus." Encyclopedia > Plants and Animals > Plants.
Available @ http://www.encyclopedia.com/plants-and-animals/plants/plants/trailing-arbutus

"Trailing Arbutus, Ground Laurel, Mayflower, Plymouth Mayflower - Epigaea repens." Wildflowers of the United States > Wildflower Index > USWildflowers Family List for All States > Ericaceae - Heath Family.
Available @ http://uswildflowers.com/detail.php?SName=Epigaea%20repens

"Trailing Arbutus or Mayflower." American Meadows > Perennials > Woodland Wildflowers.
Available @ http://www.americanmeadows.com/perennials/woodland-wildflowers/trailing-arbutus

Weakley, Alan S.; Ludwig, J. Christopher; and Townsend, John F. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Edited by Bland Crowder. Fort Worth TX: BRIT Press, Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

Johannes Vermeer Painting The Astronomer: Elementary's Invisible Hand

Summary: A fake Johannes Vermeer painting The Astronomer suggests someone and something else behind global business on Elementary's The Invisible Hand May 1, 2016.

Johannes Vermeer's The Astronomer, ca. 1668 oil on canvas; Louvre, Northern Schools Paintings (room 848), Paris, France: Web Gallery of Art, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The appearance of the Johannes Vermeer painting The Astronomer on dust jackets associates an alleged assassin and an assassination attempt in the Columbia Broadcasting System procedural drama series Elementary May 1, 2016.

Director Guy Ferland and writers Robert Doherty and Jason Tracey bring one of the three signed paintings by the Delft-born Dutch artist into The Invisible Hand. The fourth season's 23rd episode, as the 95th overall, concerns Joshua Vikner (Tony Curran), economics professor in New York, and his Johannes Vermeer painting The Astronomer. Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) describes Vikner's Johannes Vermeer painting The Astronomer as "a rather impressive reimagining of one of the Dutch master's famed lost canvases."

Sherlock explains to Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) that "Now, when I still knew [Jamie] Moriarty as Irene Adler, we had a rather interesting conversation about Vermeer."

Sherlock furnishes further recollections "About the problems that she encountered trying to reproduce his work. I've been studying her work. Her brushstrokes, her use of light." He guesstimates, without glimpsing the "pseudo Vermeer," that "I strongly suspect that she gave that painting to Vikner, as well as the keys to her kingdom."

The Musée du Louvre in Paris, France, legitimately holds the 19.68-inch- (50-centimeter-) high by 17.72-inch- (45-centimeter-) wide painting by Johannes Vermeer (Oct. 31, 1632-Dec. 15, 1675). It includes neither the first-dated, 56.29-inch- (1.43-meter-) long, 51.18-inch- (1.3-meter-) wide Procuress from 1656 nor the third-dated, 20.47-inch (52-centimeter-) long, 17.91-inch- (45.5-centimeter-) wide Geographer from 1669.

The Geographer and The Procuress oils on canvas respectively joined Germany's Städelsches Kunstinstitut ("[Johann Friedrich] Städel Art Institute") in Frankfurt and Gemäldegalerie ("Picture Gallery") in Dresden.

Nobody knows why Vermeer kept the same-coiffed model, perhaps Delft-born microbiologist Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek (Oct. 24, 1632-Aug. 26, 1723), for The Astronomer and The Geographer.

Looking for locations through celestial and terrestrial compasses, globes and maps and through telescope lenses, such as those by lens-maker van Leeuwenhoek, links astronomers and geographers. A brass astrolabe by Willem Janszoon Blaeu (Dec. 9, 1571-Oct. 21, 1638) moors atop a celestial globe by Joost de Hondt (Oct. 14, 1653-Feb. 12, 1612). The 1621 edition of Institutiones Astronomicae et Geographicae ("On Exploration and Observation of the Stars," loosely) by Adriaan Adriaanszoon (Dec. 9, 1571-Sep. 6, 1635) nestles nearby.

The Johannes Vermeer painting The Astronomer observes book section 111's first page on astrolabes and the upper globe surface's Dragon, Great Bear, Hercules and Lyra constellations.

The green-robed astronomer poses his left hand on the window-lit desktop that a blue and green, plant-patterned tapestry protects and his right hand over the globe.

The Finding of Moses event from Exodus 2:5 qualifies as painting-within-a-painting wall art there and in the Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid of 1670-1671. The Johannes Vermeer painting The Astronomer respects ancient cultures since Adriaanszoon, Blaeu and Hondt retained the respective Latin monikers Metius, Guilielmus Jansonius Blavius and Jodocus Hondius. Moses, whom Acts 7:22 says "was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians," and 10 stacked tomes suggest things ancient and unseen, scientific and seen.

The fake Johannes Vermeer painting The Astronomer tells Sherlock to turn ancient truths upside-down in order to track temporary and true heads of terminally traumatic transactions.

(left) Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) suspects that (right) Joshua Vikner's (Tony Curran) impressively reimagined Vermeer painting, The Astronomer, may have been gifted by Irene Adler/Jamie Moriarty: Carissa Pavlica @CarissaPavlica, via Twitter May 2, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Johannes Vermeer's The Astronomer, ca. 1668 oil on canvas; Louvre, Northern Schools Paintings (room 848), Paris, France: Web Gallery of Art, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Johannes_Vermeer_-_The_Astronomer_-_WGA24685.jpg

(left) Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) suspects that (right) Joshua Vikner's (Tony Curran) impressively reimagined Vermeer painting, The Astronomer, may have been gifted by Irene Adler/Jamie Moriarty: Carissa Pavlica @CarissaPavlica, via Twitter May 2, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/CarissaPavlica/status/727035036592041984

For further information:

Brook, Timothy. 2009. Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World. New York NY: Bloomsbury Press.

Carissa Pavlica ‏@CarissaPavlica. "#Elementary Season 4 Episode 23 Review: The Invisible Hand." Twitter. May 2, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/CarissaPavlica/status/727035036592041984

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. London England: George Newnes Ltd., 1892.

"The Invisible Hand." Elementary: The Fourth Season. Los Angeles CA: Paramount Pictures Corporation, May 1, 2016.

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 March 2016. “Shih Tzu Dog Breed and Elementary's Up to Heaven and Down to Hell.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/03/shih-tzu-dog-breed-and-elementarys-up.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 February 2016. “Mushroom Botanical Illustrations and Elementary's A Study in Charlotte.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/02/mushroom-botanical-illustrations-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 November 2015. "Black-Capped Central American Squirrel Monkeys and Elementary Series." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/11/black-capped-central-american-squirrel.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 November 2015. “Tienchi-Flower Tea and Elementary's Evidence of Things Not Seen.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/11/tienchi-flower-tea-and-elementarys.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 April 2015. “Pablo Picasso Painting Woman Reading on Elementary's A Stitch in Time.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/03/pablo-picasso-painting-woman-reading-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 February 2015. “Extinct Quagga Plains Zebra on Elementary's The Female of the Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/02/extinct-quagga-plains-zebra-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 23 January 2015. “Elementary's Yellow Clivia and Yellow Clivia Botanical Illustrations.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/01/elementarys-yellow-clivia-and-yellow.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 December 2014. “Elementary's Nutmeg Concoction and Nutmeg Botanical Illustrations.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/12/elementarys-nutmeg-concoction-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 November 2014. “Elementary's Bird in Blue-Throated Macaw Natural History Illustrations.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/11/elementarys-bird-in-blue-throated-macaw.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 October 2014. “Bearded Dragon Natural History Illustrations: Not Elementary's Nemesis.” Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/10/bearded-dragon-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 2 May 2014. “Ficus Benjamina Botanical Illustrations and Elementary's Stunted Tree.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/05/ficus-benjamina-botanical-illustrations.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 February 2014. “Dimetrodon Natural History Illustrations and Elementary's Dimetrodon.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/dimetrodon-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 January 2014. “Nanotyrannus Natural History Illustrations and Elementary's Dead Clade Walking.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/nanotyrannus-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 December 2013. “Fruit in Osage Orange Botanical Illustrations and Elementary Series.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/12/fruit-in-osage-orange-botanical.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 November 2013. “George Stubbs Painting The Godolphin Arabian and Elementary's Nutmeg.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/11/george-stubbs-painting-godolphin.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 November 2013. “John Wootton Painting The Darley Arabian and Elementary's Studhorse.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/11/john-wootton-painting-darley-arabian.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 8 November 2013. “John Wootton Painting The Byerley Turk and Elementary's Thoroughbreds.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/11/john-wootton-painting-byerley-turk-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 30 August 2013. “Turner Fighting Temeraire Painting in Elementary Series Episode The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/08/turner-fighting-temeraire-painting-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 June 2013. “Paul Gauguin Painting Tahitian Women on the Beach in Elementary's The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/06/paul-gauguin-painting-tahitian-women-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 May 2013. “Rubens Painting The Incredulity of St Thomas in Elementary's The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/rubens-painting-incredulity-of-st.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 May 2013. “Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Painting Rousse in Elementary Episode The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/henri-de-toulouse-lautrec-painting.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 May 2013. “The Bruegel Painted Parable in the Elementary Series Episode The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-bruegel-painted-parable-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 February 2013. “Osmia Avosetta Natural History Illustrations for Elementary's Bee.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/osmia-avosetta-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 February 2013. “Russian Tortoise Natural History Illustrations and Elementary's Clyde Jan. 31, 2013.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/russian-tortoise-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 25 January 2013. “Costliest, World-Most Expensive Chopard Watch: 201 Carats at $25 Million.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/costliest-world-most-expensive-chopard.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 January 2013. “Chopard Watch Worth $25 Million on Elementary Episode The Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/chopard-watch-worth-25-million-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 January 2013. “Claude Monet Painting Nympheas 1918 in Elementary Series' Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/claude-monet-painting-nympheas-1918-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 January 2013. “Paul Cézanne Still Life Painting Fruit in Elementary Series' Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/paul-cezanne-still-life-painting-fruit.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 December 2012. “Paul Signac Painting Women at the Well in Elementary Series' Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/paul-signac-painting-women-at-well-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 21 December 2012. “The Van Gogh Pietà Painting in Elementary Series Episode The Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-van-gogh-pieta-painting-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 December 2012. “Edward Hopper Painting Western Motel in Elementary Series' Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/edward-hopper-painting-western-motel-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 29 September 2012. "Are Lesser Clovers Sherlock's Lucky Shamrocks on Elementary's Pilot?" Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/09/are-lesser-clovers-sherlocks-lucky.html

Snyder, Laura J. 2015. Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing. New York NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Steadman, Philip. 2002. Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth behind the Masterpieces. Oxford UK; New York NY: Oxford University Press.

May 9, 2016, Mercury Solar Transit Takes Seven and One-Half Hours

Summary: The Monday, May 9, 2016, Mercury solar transit, in which Mercury crosses between Earth and the sun, lasts seven and one-half hours.

orientation of Earth during transit of Mercury, Monday, May 9, 2016: Tomruen, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

The Monday, May 9, 2016, Mercury solar transit, in which inner planet Mercury transits, or crosses, the face of the sun, takes seven and one-half hours, from 11:12 to 18:42 Coordinated Universal Time (7:12 a.m. to 2:42 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time).

The astronomical event is visible, via telescopes with solar filters, from Earth. Mercury will appear as a small black disk moving from west to east, across the face of the sun. The May 9, 2016, Mercury solar transit is visible, wholly or partially, from most of Earth. Australia, Eastern Asia, Indonesia and New Zealand lie outside of the viewing area.

Times of five critical instants during the seven and one-half hour transit pinpoint Mercury's placement with respect to the sun's face. Four contact times are paired as frames around a central point, known as the greatest transit.

Contact I, the instant that Mercury appears externally tangent to the sun, marks the beginning of the transit. Mercury's leading edge is adjacent to the sun's outer limb, or edge. Contact I occurs at 11:12 UTC (7:12 a.m. EDT).

Contact II, the instant that Mercury's trailing edge is internally tangent to the inner solar limb, marks the beginning of the small planet's passage across the sun's face. Contact II occurs at 11:15 UTC (7:15 a.m. EDT).

Greatest transit describes the instant of Mercury's closest passage to the sun's center as seen from Earth's center. Greatest transit is the midpoint in Mercury's transit. Greatest transit takes place at 14:57 UTC (10:57 a.m. EDT). Greatest transit occurs 3 hours 45 minutes after Contact I, the instant of external tangency with the sun, and 3 hours 42 minutes after Contact II, the instant of internal tangency with the sun.

Contact III marks the instant of Mercury's reach of the opposite limb of the sun. Mercury's leading edge is internally tangent to the sun's opposite, inner limb. Contact III occurs at 18:39 UTC (2:39 p.m. EDT). Contact III happens 3 hours 42 minutes after greatest transit.

Contact IV, the instant that Mercury appears externally tangent to the sun, signals the end of Mercury's transit. Mercury's trailing edge is adjacent to the sun's outer limb. Contact IV takes place at 18:42 UTC (2:42 p.m. EDT). Contact IV occurs 3 hours 45 minutes after greatest transit.

From the perspective of Earth, transits by only two planets are viewable. As the two closest planets to the sun, Mercury and Venus have orbits that allow for occasional passages between Earth and the sun.

NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak, known popularly as “Mr. Eclipse,” notes on NASA's Eclipse Web Site the relative rarity of transits. Mercury averages 13 transits in a century.

A Mercury solar transit requires two astronomical events. An inferior conjunction with the sun places Mercury between Earth and the sun. Mercury orbit also crosses through the ecliptic, the Earth's orbital plane.

Mercury has an orbital tip of 7 degrees to Earth's orbit around the sun. Currently, Mercury's orbit crosses the plane of the ecliptic twice a year, in May and in November. May transits occur at the descending node, the point where Mercury's orbit crosses Earth's orbital plane from north to south. November transits occur at the ascending node, the point where Mercury's orbit crosses the ecliptic from south to north.

May transits happen about a month after Mercury's reach of aphelion (Ancient Greek: ἀπό, apó, “from” + ἥλιος, hḗlios, “sun”), or farthest center-to-center orbital distance from the sun. Planetary velocity decreases at greatest distance from the sun. At aphelion, Mercury has an orbital velocity of 38.9 kilometers per second.

November transits precede Mercury's reach of perihelion, or closest center-to-center orbital distance to the sun, by only a few days. At perihelion, Mercury has an orbital velocity of 59.0 kilometers per second.

According to NASA's Eclipse Web Site, the seven centuries between 1601 and 2300 CE (Common Era) will yield 94 Mercury solar transits visible from Earth. November transits are more common, with 63 occurrences. May transits claim 31 occurrences.

The 21st century, spanning Jan. 1, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2100, opens with a May transit and closes with a November transit. May dates account for only five of the century's 14 transits. The first happened May 7, 2003, from 05:13 to 10:32 UTC (1:13 a.m. to 6:32 a.m. EDT). The three occurring after the 2016 May transit take place Friday, May 7, 2049, from 11:03 to 17:44 UTC (7:03 a.m. to 1:44 p.m. EDT); Wednesday, May 10, 2062, from 18:16 to 00:57 UTC (2:16 p.m. to 8:57 p.m. EDT); Sunday, May 8, 2095, from 17:20 to 00:50 UTC (1:20 p.m. to 8:50 p.m. EDT).

The takeaway for the May 9, 2016, Mercury solar transit that takes seven and one-half hours is the excitement of the astronomical event's relative rarity, especially as a May happening.

“Astronomers get excited when any two things come close to each other in the heavens,” explains Louis Mayo, program manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “This is a big deal for us.”

graphic of Mercury's east-to-west solar transit May 2016; horizontal yellow line represents the ecliptic: Tomruen, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

orientation of Earth during transit of Mercury, Monday, May 9, 2016: Tomruen, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Transit_of_Mercury_May_9_2016_Orientation_of_Earth.png

graphic of Mercury's east-to-west solar transit May 2016; horizontal yellow line represents the ecliptic: Tomruen, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Transit_of_Mercury_May_9_2016_path_across_sun.png

For further information:

Byrd, Deborah. “See It! Monday's Transit of Mercury.” EarthSky > Today's Image. May 9, 2016.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/todays-image/see-it-mondays-transit-of-mercury

Espenak, Fred. “2016 Transit of Mercury.” Eclipse Wise > Observer's Handbook.
Available @ http://eclipsewise.com/oh/tm2016.html

Espenak, Fred. “Seven Century Catalog of Mercury Transits: 1601 CE to 2300 CE.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Planetary Transits Across the Sun.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/transit/catalog/MercuryCatalog.html

Espenak, Patricia Totten. “Get Ready for May 9th's Transit of Mercury.” Sky & Telescope > Astronomy News > Observing News. April 14, 2014.
Available @ http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/get-ready-for-may-9th-transit-of-mercury-041320162/

King, Bob. "How to Safely Watch Mercury Transit the Sun on May 9." Universe Today. April 27, 2016.
Available @ http://www.universetoday.com/128321/guide-upcoming-transit-mercury/#

MacRobert, Alan. “Mercury Transit: Everything You Need to Know.” Sky & Telescope > Astronomy News > Observing News. May 6, 2016.
Available @ http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/may-9th-transit-of-mercury-everything-you-need-to-know/

MacRobert, Alan. “This Week's Sky at a Glance, May 6-14.” Sky & Telescope > Observing > Sky at a Glance. May 6, 2016.
Available @ http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-may-6-14/

“May 9 / May 10, 2016 -- Mercury Transit.” Time And Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/transit/2016-may-9

McClure, Bruce. “Transit of Mercury on May 9, 2016.” EarthSky > Tonight. May 7, 2016.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/tonight/mercury-transit-may-9-2016-how-to-watch

NASA.gov Video. “2016 Mercury Transit Path.” YouTube. May 3, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEkkCaBTgZ8

NASA SunEarth @NASASunEarth. “On Monday, May 9, several NASA satellites will see Mercury enter the spotlight.” Twitter. May 3, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/NASASunEarth/status/727547440560279553

“November 11 / November 12, 2019 -- Mercury Transit.” Time And Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/transit/2019-november-11

Schlieder, Sarah. “Satellites to See Mercury Enter Spotlight on May 9.” NASA > Features > Eclipses and Transits. May 3, 2016.
Available @ http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/satellites-to-see-mercury-enter-spotlight-on-may-9

Walker, John. “Quarter Million Year Canon of Solar System Transits.” Fourmilab Switzerland > Canon Transits. Nov. 27, 2004.
Available @ http://fourmilab.ch/documents/canon_transits/

Webb, Brian. “Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)." Space Archive. March 27, 2016.
Available @ http://www.spacearchive.info/utc.htm

Hottest 2016 Lilies to Plant in North America in Zones 3 to 10 in May

Summary: The hottest 2016 lilies can be planted as early as May Day or Mother’s Day or as late as autumn in cold and heat hardiness zones 3 to 9 in North America.

The Garden Club of Virginia's 2016 Lily Collection includes white-tipped raspberry 'Café Noir': Living Colour Bulbs @livingcolourblb, via Twitter Jan. 28, 2015

All lilies in general and lilies of the valley in particular are associated with celebrations of May Day, whose festivities can be particularly joyous by buying and sustaining the hottest 2016 lilies.

Bright, fragrant lilies of the valley (Convallaria majalis), known nationwide as muguets, bring May Day celebrants to France, where invasive tendencies and poisonous properties are monitored. Continental culture can be accessed, and many imported and some local-grown lilies admired, in May Day celebrations on North America’s plucky Saint Pierre et Miquelon archipelago.

Another form of celebration deserves consideration for those May Day celebrants who have visits scheduled to France and Saint Pierre et Miquelon in 2017, not 2016. The Garden Club of Virginia (GCV) enumerates each year’s top lilies, in advance of May Day and of what now is the 74th annual lily show.

‘Café Noir,’ ‘Fusion,’ ‘Happy Sunrise,’ ‘Morini,’ ‘Pedara’ and ‘Royal Kiss’ fill the floral niches established by the Garden Club of Virginia for the hottest 2016 lilies.

The Asiatic lilies known as ‘Café Noir’ or as ‘Dixie Jazz’ give cream-tipped, raspberry-centered, unscented, unspotted blooms on 36-inch- (91.44-centimeter-) high stems in June and July. ‘Fusion’ hybridizes northern California’s native red-tipped, yellow-spotted lily and the Liukiu Islands’ graceful, long-leafed Japanese Easter lily into 5-foot- (1.52-meter-) high, June-blooming, July-blossoming and August-flowering stems. Gold-flushed, orange-throated ‘Happy Sunrise’ blooming on 3-foot (0.91-meter) stems in May and June is reminiscent of the Stone & Payne hybrid ‘Connecticut King’ of the 1960s. 'Morini' joins ‘Happy Sunrise’ at the floral spectrum’s beautiful yellows in July while transitioning from buttered cream- to peachy pink-like colors on 4-foot- (1.22-meter-) tall stems.

‘Pedara’ keeps company with ‘Royal Kiss’ in the hottest 2016 lilies as L.A. crosses whose large buds and round-ended petals reflect crossing Longi with Asian lilies. ‘Pedara’ lets the immediate area fill with a natural, subtle, welcome fragrance, just as all but the scentless ‘Café Noir’ and the unscented ‘Happy Sunrise’ do. Buff- to champagne-colored blooms that may or may not be sprinkled with spots make appearances atop 3- to 4-foot- (0.91- to 1.22-meter-) high stems in July.

Collectors and cultivators immediately note in ‘Royal Kiss’ evidence of the same breeding line responsible for the dark-speckled, gold-centered pink blooms in ‘Royal Sunset’ L.A. lilies. ‘Royal Kiss’ offers black-centered, red-tipped blooms, whose color scheme repeats that of June- and July-flowering ‘Red Alert’ L.A. lilies, on 3-foot- (0.91-meter-) tall stems in June.

The hottest 2016 lilies identified by the Garden Club of Virginia, headquartered in Richmond, provide perennial color, structure and texture through a minimum of annual efforts.

The 4.72- to 7.87-inch (12- to 20-centimeter) bulbs queue up best triply clustered in alkaline, 5.5 to 6.5 pH level, humus-rich, semi-shaded or sunlit, well-drained soils. Ideal arrangements require 4- to 6-inch (10.16- to 15.24-centimeter) depths, 5- to 8-inch (12.7- to 20.32-centimeter) distances within trios and 3-foot (0.91-meter) spaces from other trios. Lilies survive zones 3 to 10’s minus 40 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 to minus 1.7 degrees Celsius) ranges, and lower, when mulched each winter.

The hottest 2016 lilies bedded, containerized or soil-bound turn countdowns to 2017’s May Day celebrations in France and on Saint Pierre et Miquelon into best-in-show trophies.

'Connecticut King' lily: Lilium 'Connecticut King' of 1960s finds golden echoes in Garden Club of Virginia's featuring of lookalike 'Happy Sunrise' in 2016 lily show; Sunday, July 10, 2011, 12:44: Uleli, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The Garden Club of Virginia's 2016 Lily Collection includes white-tipped raspberry 'Café Noir': Living Colour Bulbs‏ @livingcolourblb, via Twitter Jan. 28, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/livingcolourblb/status/560402033849954304

'Connecticut King' lily: Lilium 'Connecticut King' of 1960s finds golden echoes in Garden Club of Virginia's featuring of lookalike 'Happy Sunrise' in 2016 lily show; Sunday, July 10, 2011, 12:44: Uleli, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lilium_'Connecticut_King'.jpg

For further information:

“Garden Club of Virginia 2016 Lily Collection Amended.” Garden Club of Virginia.
Available @ https://www.gcvirginia.org/warehouse/fm/documents/flower_collections/2016%20Lily%20Collection%20Amended.pdf

Living Colour Bulbs‏ @livingcolourblb. 28 January 2015. "New lily this season -- Café Noir." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/livingcolourblb/status/560402033849954304

Marriner, Derdriu. "'Flame Creeper' Azaleas: Virginia Historic Garden Week's Hottest 2016 Azaleas." Earth and Space News. Saturday, April 30, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/04/flame-creeper-azaleas-virginia-historic.html

M.E. 30 April 2015. “Un brin de bonheur.” France Télévisions > Saint-Pierre et Miquelon.
Available @ http://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/saintpierremiquelon/2015/04/30/un-brin-de-bonheur-252353.html