I’ve cropped these photos-taken by my partner-to give a closeup view of these lovely little flowers. They’re similar, but different enough for each to merit their own “portrait.” This one has 3 heart shaped petals which have a small, golden yellow centre, from which fan out streaks of reddish purple on white, with that same purple all along each petal’s edges. The colours almost look as though they’ve been painted on by an artist, in delicate brushstrokes of purple on white. Behind those 3 showy main petals are two solid colour petals of a slightly darker purple hue, a fitting “backdrop” for the bi-colourful trio in front. The flower is surrounded by an abundance of scallop-edged, green foliage. Another purple Viola is on the left, still in bud, but looking ready to burst forth in glorious colour soon, having already split open its green “cover.” Sunlight casts shadows and light across the plants in places, lending a sheen to one of the Viola’s dark purple back petals. The blurred background is mostly bare earth - evidence of the severe digging out that was necessary to rid our small garden patch of the terribly invasive russian sage: a plant so insidious & drought resistant that it all but ruined months of other plants we normally would have seen over Summer. We hope the bare ground will eventually be covered in new pansies and violas. For now it’s a treat just to see colour and flowers returning where once was nothing but a vicious, tough-to-remove carpet of russian sage plants popping up everywhere, wrecking so much of our normally multi-flowered patch. Already we’re seeing some of those suppressed wildflowers - helped by rains as much as by the difficult removal of that r. sage - rebounding slowly. For now the Pansies & Violas represent Hope. Garden for joy but also for wildlife: they need everyone’s help. ~💞
Though this Viola is similar to the first, it’s the depth of the purple - both around its tiny yellow centre and petal-edging streaks on white - that’s a richer hue. What’s more, the two “back petals” are much darker, a purple so intense it’s almost black. And, as if to add something even more extraordinary, those twin dark petals could easily be mistaken for a small butterfly’s wings, poised but partly hidden behind the main front petals. Again, there’s an abundance of scallop-edged leaves that surround this little flower in a green embrace. There may still be bare patches of earth in the blur of the upper right corner, but this bloom - and all the others my partner has taken great care to both plant and photograph- brightens the day as much as the sunlight spilling shadows and illuminating all these wonderful colours: Hope…we hope🙏 Please garden for joy, of course, but also for wildlife, wherever and however you can. ~💞
#Flowers #Violas newly planted: my partner bought a tray-full of lovely little #blooms in colours similar to the pansies planted last week. Slowly she’s bringing our once ravaged #garden back to life #photography -by my partner. #blossoms #plants #garden4wildlife #garden4joy
