Spring greens, from tart to tender

It's the sputtering start of spring, bouncing between grey and bright, wet and dry. I need a lift, something that signals the season.

First, something off the runway just to get us in the mood. We all have the bread and butter basics, but an aquamarine Mongolian lamb chubby? You get my drift: I want some kind of green to play off the neutral core of the closet.

TSE Fall 2012

The pieces below show the green range, but some may be s/o already. Green things, as my Parisienne friend Huguette says, should be scooped the moment they come out and worn as soon as possible, so that everyone is cheered by a flash of fresh.

Turquoise (in fact almost Tiffany blue), is a sublime mating of blue and green, with shifting ratios. An unexpectedly useful shade, if you can wear it. A turquoise hacking jacket in double-serge wool (J. Crew; price, $250) would pick up your jeans and is chic with bitter chocolate.

J. Crew turquoise blazer

Leaf or grass? J. Crew call it Caribbean; my family calls it golf-course green. I nominate this sweater to spring up my jeans. (And this time I'll be good and dryclean like they say, or at least handwash. The machine ate my last one.) Linen v-neck cable sweater, price, $69.50 from J. Crew.

J. Crew Caribbean linen v-neck

Basil: Crisp, clean and confident, very feminine in this retro-inspired Eric Bompard V-neck knit dress of 70% cotton, 30% cashmere. A graceful piece that goes from day through evening. (Eric Bompard, €195.)

Bompard basil dress

Apple: the green of sunshine and soft breezes, a gentle but not insipid hue. I have owned this very LL Bean washable linen shirt, and probably will again. Both the sleeve length and price ($45) are right.

LL Bean apple linen shirt

Lime is sometimes neon, so off my list, but a true lime, especially in a light jacket, is a wardrobe-refresher. Lafayette 148 stretch Emmeline jacket in cotton comes in neutrals, too, but you probably have one of those. (From Lafayette New York in misses' and plus sizes; price, $498.)

Lafayette 148 lime jacket

I can't wear mint but, in homage to my beautiful blonde sisters, will not omit its charms here. Lily Pulitzer's mint pima cotton Cassie cotton top is a well-cut basic, julep-fresh with white jeans. (From Saks Fifth Avenue; price, $55.)

Lilly Pulitzer mint top

The colour Eric Bompard call bud green is soft and delicate, but uncommon, too. These refined colours are why I continually order from them. Shown, the extrafine 100% cashmere v-neck pullover, price, €198.

Bompard bud pullover

Not in the lineup is the olive/khaki axis of green, which is versatile and pleasing, but not a herald-of-spring hue.

What has caught your eye for spring? Is it a colour, a mood or a specific piece?