Orage
with the xfce desktop panels, one can right click on the panel and select panel/ add new item.
the dialog appears with options, select orage panel clock, the clock appears on panel.
Right click on the orage panel clock and select properties.
the clock properties options at the top of the dialog include check boxs to toggle foreground and background color. with a color selector.
checking the background box should change the clocks background, and one should be able to select a color more closely matching the panel background.
I have the panel semi transparent and wallpaper color blends but the clock background remains the image of the default panel. When it works, one can more closely match the panel color and orage panel clock color.
at one time it was transparent but of late the background color is the only option to match the panels color.
will try grip again as suggested
Thanks very much