Saturday, May 27, 2017

Let There Be Purple

Dear me, what can one say about such a sumptuous shade? Call it purple, amethyst, periwinkle, ultraviolet or anything else for that matter, it's my favorite color and perfectly expressed in the irises of early summer with their golden streaks, artfully frilled edges and gracefully arching leaves.

In Greek, the word iris means "eye of heaven", and it is the name of a goddess - our sumptuous early summer blooms take their name from Iris, goddess of the rainbow. She carried messages between heaven and earth along the rainbow, and another of her sacred tasks was escorting souls to the Elysian fields, the final resting place of those who were heroic and virtuous in life.

In many cultures, the iris represents life, virtue and resurrection. For us, the bloom is emblematic of summer, and when it comes to purple, the irises have it all.

6 comments:

Pienosole said...

Yes! One of my favorite flowers, they have a particular elegance. :-)

Barbara Rogers said...

It's a lovely purple, and not at all what the finch looks like, wonder how he got to be called purple anyway. I prefer the iris purple any day!

Jennifer said...

This far south, I associate the color purple with April because the irises, columbines, wisteria, and redbud trees (which are really purple, not red) are all blooming then.

Marsha said...

"Favorite color" - which one of the infinite beautiful shades here? Impossible to choose.

Rain Trueax said...

I love irises and can't get them to grow here. I think it might be the oak trees. They are not friendly to all plants.

Tabor said...

Wow! One of my favorites.