The Color Purple

I'm not talking about the movie that showed the world that Oprah Winfrey could act as well as host a TV show.  I'm talking about the actual color of purple, which is very symbolic for the Christian celebration of Easter and the Passion of Christ.  Purple symbolizes royalty and is the color used to clothe a king.

Purple in the garden, from my perspective, has a unique role to play.  The color ranges from a deep, sultry, velvety shade that may border on black, to light and airy periwinkle hues.  Since purple covers such a broad band, it can be used to bridge the gap between seemingly unrelated colors. 

Taking inventory of my garden,

I have much purple...more than I was aware of. 

Of course, my orchids

show my preference for the intoxicating shades of purple.

Christieara Sharifa Alsagoff

Ground Orchid

Dendrobium

My first orchid that blooms every year for my birthday!

Phalaenopsis highlighted by bright and cheerful yellow!

Another favorite is my Queen Emma Crinum Lily.



This juvenile will grow quickly

to it's mammoth size once the rainy season comes. 

I love the deep, dark tones of the leaves.

Her blossom is a pearly white

painted with streaks of deep purple on the underside

of each petal that appear pinkish on the upper side.

Each deep purple stamen is topped

with bright yellow pollen producing anthers. 

The fragrance is intoxicating!!! 

(Dear Blogger:

I'd like to embed a scratch-n-sniff here.

Please let me know when this feature is available.)

The Purple Queen blooms are small

but lovely when appreciated closely. 

The leaf to the left of the Purple Queen bloom

is that of a Purple Velvet Plant,

or Gynura sarmentosa.

I love how the velvety layer of purple

highlights the deep green leaf.

The AMAZINGLY COOL bloom of

Tillandsia Ionantha is nothing less than spectacular!

The entire ball is in full crazy bloom right now,

appearing like a burst of fireworks!

Angelonia has a wonderful little bloom

resembling an angel with mouth wide open,

singing praises to her Heavenly Father!

The strength of Mexican Heather

is definitely in it's numbers. 

The blooms are small and

would otherwise go unnoticed. 

But the ground cover boasts a multitude

of little purple blossoms that stand out

against the backdrop of soft green foliage.

Ruellia is a lovely true purple. 

It's appropriately known as Purple Showers

 since the blooms wither and drop each day,

only to make way for new ones the following day.

Succulents are even more striking in purple!!

This variegated Bromelaid is extraordinarily striking!

 

This Passion Vine opens to a brilliant red, but...

the bud begins with distinct purple tones.



Even the cabbage in the veggie garden

shows lovely purple tones!

(wish I had a beautiful eggplant to boast!)

The lighter shades look more blue...

like this airy Plumbago and...

and this Blue Eyed Grass that grows wild in my yard.

(I'm always a bit confused

how the garden experts

categorize "blue" and "purple". 

They lump them together,

which is what I've done here. 

But seriously...

"Blue Eyed Grass" is blue, right? 

Oh well, I'll agree with the "experts"

and call it a shade of purple for this post!  HA!!!)

Happy Easter!!!

Inspecting the Damage

After a full week of freezing temperatures, the sun is out, slowly warming the air and the ground.  There's plenty of damage, although I think most everything will bounce back, eventually.  The worst part is that we all have cabin fever, and I won't be able to touch the garden for another week while I wait "patiently" to see what is damaged and what is simply hiding from Jack Frost.  Additionally, I'm a firm believer in not cutting back damage until I KNOW we're out of frost risk...this might be awhile, since it's only January.  Here's a sampling of my garden on this sunny, warmer afternoon...

We'll start with the bad news...ice in the bird bath! The birds were understandably MAD! The kids thought it was great fun!

The bananas were devestated!  Not sure about a couple of the "medium sized" pups, but the little ones look like they'll be fine.

This photo of the new front patio garden isn't promising. The bright, cheery Petra Croton is anything but cheerful, the oyster plants look like a wilted salad, the Heliconia is dried and shriveling, and the vincas are definitely toast!

Only the top of the Presidential Hibiscus is damaged. The little blooms look ready to open and show their pretty red faces!

I have 2 young Bottle Neck Palms that show plenty of frost bits (note the yellow/brown, dry leaves) but will probably be fine

The brown turkey fig is damaged but still shows signs of life...it was covered...it'll be fine!

Now to the better news...some plants seem less than fazed by the week-long freeze...

The Giant Bird of Paradise in the front and the two transplants in the back seem to be fine!

The Muscadine Grapes don't look fazed at all!

The Ponderosa Lemon and Meyer Lemons are still blooming with new growth to boot!

The Queen Emma Crinums looks fine...

The young Mango tree look undisturbed!

The Kalenchoe, Ground Orchids (that had cover), and Gilliardia greet the sunny day with a smile!

The Carolina Jasmine is cold hardy and shows off it's golden blooms.

And one of the Agave plant continues to bloom, no matter what!

Of course, while the temperatures were freezing outside, we huddled inside and made a gingerbread tree.  Sophia and her friend, Daniella, had a fun time!