So purple

The bluebells have just about finished blooming for now. These photos are from two weeks ago.

In the shade

And in the sunshine.

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Los jacintos ya casi terminan de florecer por ahora. Estas dos fotos las saqué hace dos semanas.

1. En la sombra.

2. En el sol.

Purple glad

One of my gladiolus stems broke off in the wind, so I brought it inside and took the opportunity to look down its throat.

The white structure is the stigma, the female part of the flower. The stamens (male) are at its base.

The gladiolus has three anthers, three stigmas. And interesting shadows.

Side view. The pollen is purple.

 

Another view. Just because.

Hyacinth

My carport is half sunken. Beside it, about shoulder height, the wall opens to a garden area crammed, at this time of year, with hyacinths. I drive in, open the car door, and immediately the perfume envelops me. And this is my eye-level view.

Breathe deep!

Home-grown barnacle eater.

I haven't been bringing snails home to the aquarium since I moved to Campbell River, but somehow, they show up here anyhow. This pretty purple dogwinkle (what a name!) has been fattening up on barnacles and the occasional mussel.

Channelled purple dogwinkle, Nucella canaliculata.

The shell sculpture consists of many well-defined spiral ridges of approximately equal size.  The whorls are set off from one another by a deep groove.  Small individuals ... may be orange; older individuals are often yellowish brown or light gray. (WallaWalla.edu)

There is also another one, somewhat smaller, in the tank; it is bright orange.

Since there are two snails, I'll start watching for egg capsules and later, baby snails.

The famous purple dye from the city of Tyre that colored royal Roman robes, was made from a relative of Nucella.  The snails were ground up in a stone mortar; different combinations made different shades of purple.  The dye should be fixed with lemon juice as a mordant.  The American species produce a much less brilliant purple than do the Mediterranean species. (WallaWalla)

I didn't know that. This shell would possibly produce a bluish-purplish grey. But the snail is safe; I'm not going to swipe his shell. When he's done with it, a few years from now, the hermit crabs will want it.

More purple

This time, it's a crab.

Blue, purple, and red-brown crab. Tyee Spit.

Tomorrow: peering past pilings.

Purple!

I've been working late, chasing a deadline. Good thing it's been raining; we haven't missed any beach time.

This is from a whole month ago, on Boundary Bay beach.

Turkish towel drying out on sand. Well past its sell-by date, and turning purple.

I'm yawning in between every two words.  Goodnight, all!

More colours of spring - Purple

Beach Grove is a delight at this time of year.

Crocuses pop up everywhere, providing spring vitamins for slugs and ants. 

Dead leaves, fresh crocuses

A miniature iris with purple and white tips.

Purple pansies

Deep, rich colours in full sun.

Royal purple

Humble periwinkles at the base of a wall. With bonus brown spider.

A grove snail basks in the sun on the purple wall.

Here in North Delta, we're about two weeks behind Beach Grove. But one of my hellebores is blooming already; spring's a-coming!

Purple wall

I'm pretty sure this wall was beige and boring the last time we saw it. Now look at it!

Hollyhocks, live and dead.

The wall faces a pass-through from Beach Grove, Tsawwassen to Boundary Bay beach. What little landscaping there is has been swallowed up by weeds and grasses. But a few flowers soldier bravely on.

Unidentified, so far. (Acanthus. Thanks, Earl Cootie!)

This plant looks familiar, but I can't put a name to it. The flowers bloomed along a tall stem, like foxgloves. Now each dried flower holds a seed pod about the size and shape of an acorn, but with the texture and colour of a horse chestnut. I brought two home as an aid to identification, and left them on the kitchen table while I busied myself with supper preparation. I was alone, so I was startled to hear a loud click behind me. One of the seed pods had popped itself open and thrown a seed halfway across the room.

The seed was the same glossy brown, but otherwise like a misshapen, hard, dried pea. A couple of hours later, the second pod went. Pop! and the seed ended up in the living room.

The leaves are long, with many irregular, alternate, sharp lobes.

Back to the purples:

All the remaining hollyhocks were in deep reds and royal purples.

Crayola colours; Cerise to Amethyst to Grape.*

Grove snail with distant purple wall.

*For Clytie; there's a purple heart here.