Friday, June 06, 2008

The Violet Sky


Another rainy morning and with the temp in the low fifties, there was much attraction to staying snuggled in bed a little longer, especially with the cat purring so contentedly against my legs.

Eventually I got myself outside, despite the weather to see what was going on out there. I wish I'd managed a closer shot of the golden sage (center) leaves, as they are pretty cool. Another time perhaps. Is it any wonder I was distracted in my focus by those purple pansies? Their color seemed to glow in the morning's gloom.

The tiny red valerian flowers are opening. I think they're color might be a little more brilliant this year for the full sun exposure it lacked in the old garden.


For some context, here's a long shot of the same plant, with it's new neighbor, the verbena bonariensis in the foreground. Looks like some flower buds coming on that soon.

There's also some daylily leaves curling into the picture from the left. Not sure if they'll be yellow or orange, as they were a pass-along from friends who relandscaped last summer. If you look between the verbena stalks, you can see the flower stalk of the foxglove beginning to appear.

The green shrubby plant in the foreground is santolina.

I need to do some more research on this plant, as I don't know very much about it.

I do know that I love the way it looks and the way its scent lingers on my fingers after I run them over its scrubby, lavendar-like leaves. I know it's an important plant in the life of butterflies and moths. And the yellow ball flowers in summer are fun, too.

Most of the rain today came in the morning, though it remained sort of gray and yucky throughout the day, the temperature dropping down to 51, the lowest I noticed.

It's a a sharp contrast from the 70 plus degrees they're predicting for tomorrow, and the 80s to come on Sunday. Surprisingly, there's no storm expected to usher in that change. Looks like we'll have to wait until Tuesday for our first chance at a thunderstorm.

Just the same, the sky was an unexpected shade of purple as the day faded into night. I think we all agree it's a pretty color, but it was a little unsettling.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Purple goes so well with a red hat. Although some would say that observing a collection of biddies dressed in this fashion might indeed be nauseating, those of us who belong find it exhilarating indeed

Greg said...

Hello, Anon! Some of my best friends are Red Hat biddies, so I'm with you all the way! I always think purple and red's a winning combination!!

Birdie said...

Purple skies aren't nearly so disturbing as green. In Indiana, green skies mean tornadoes. (We're at the northern end of Tornado Alley.) Beautiful photos, as always. I'm just beginning my education in plantdom.

Jess said...

It was quite hot here today, and we're having a few "pop up" storms in the area, but nothing here so far. I really can live without this heat! Thank goodness for air conditioning!

Greg said...

I'll be sure not to gawk for too long if I see green skies, Birdie! I imagine that's sort of a chilling sight when you know what it means.

Glad to contribute to your plant education!!

Jess, we had the heat today, too, though not as bad as some places "over the bridge"--the seabreezes save us some of that, though it was still a big AC day at work! Cooler tonight, but tomorrow we're supposed to do it all over again.

Fortunately, the plants LOVE it!

Marc said...

The valerian and the pansies are beautiful! Wow!