May 2023 marks the five-year anniversary of Sunday Stills. Thank you to all who read and to those who participate.

Welcome to the Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge. This week is all about the various shades of purple, violet, lilac, lavender, plum, and more. Flowers are welcomed, but there are many items that belong to this vast color family. Let’s get creative!

Shades of Purple in Nature

Flowers

The color purple seems to rule the floral kingdom. There are over 100 species of flowers that sport purple blooms.

In spring the hills are alive with wildflowers!

Mountain Sweetpeas
Mountain Sweetpeas
Purple Autumn Crocus
Wild Autumn Crocus
Purple Fall Aster
Purple Aster
Alpine Lupine
Purple Alpine Lupine
lupine yarrow arrowleaf grass
Miles of Purple Lupine Amidst Weeds
Pale purple Carpet Phlox
Carpet Flox

Purposeful Planting

Our local nursery and farmers market have nice flowers for sale. Spring is finally here and it’s time to plant! Here’s what’s in my garden so far.

“Twilight fell: The sky turned to a light, dusky purple littered with tiny silver stars.”
~ J. K. Rowling

purple hydrangea
New purple hydrangea
Purple Night Sky Petunia
Night Sky Petunia
Pansy Field
Pansy Field at a local farm

“Nobody can keep on being angry if she looks into the heart of a pansy for a little while.” ~ Lucy Maud Montgomery

Spokane, Washington is known as the Lilac City. Here’s why!

Local Lilacs
Lilacs!

In 2019, while staying a few days on the Big Island, I visited the Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve & Garden with Graham from Graham’s Island. These orchids were stunning, as was this “Blue Bayou” Hibiscus hybrid.

Light purple orchids Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve & Garden
Light purple orchids
Purple hibiscus flower
“Blue Bayou” Hibiscus hybrid

Purple trees

Visits to San Diego in the month of June guarantee views of the beautiful Jacaranda trees.

San Diego's Jacaranda Trees
purple jacaranda blooms
Jacaranda blooms
Jacaranda tree
Jacaranda tree

Perhaps the trees aren’t purple but the Alpine Lupine add their purple touch.

Lupine view of mountains at Mammoth Lakes
Lupine view of trees and mountains, Mammoth Lakes, CA

birds

Spring is here and so are birds. The month of May is prime nesting season for the local violet-green swallow population. The violet in their feathers seems to be implied.

Violet-Green Swallow
Violet-Green Swallow Scoping for a Nest

Nesting birds are likely hoping to find insects.

Ladybug on Lupine
Ladybug on a Lupine

Purple public art

Purple colors find their way into public art, whether it be a fountain in the public square, Christmas lights, or a display of painted rocks for Kindness Rock projects.

Purple fountain
Downtown Prescott’s Vivid Fountain
Festive Purple Lights
Purple Christmas lights
Paint a rock with an uplifting message and leave for someone to find
Paint a rock with an uplifting message and leave for someone to find

Something Purple for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday Challenge

Each month I have been collaborating with Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge to provide an inspirational photo for the prompt. As I read these wonderful poems inspired by images I’ve shared, I like to feature my favorite. Here is my image.

Purple radish frames a spring delta sunset
Purple radishes frame a spring delta sunset

When we spent weekends at the Sacramento River Delta, we enjoyed seeing how wildflowers like these purple radishes grew profusely on the levees in the spring.

And here is my favorite from The Skeptic’s Kaddish:

Peppery or Perky?

cloud-split spring sunset
astonishes radishes
strain for closer look

“Poetry is a mystic, sensuous mathematics of fire, smoke-stacks, waffles, pansies, people, and purple sunsets.” ~ Carl Sandburg

Inspiring Photo Challenges This Week

Each week I find inspiration from my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I enjoy incorporating these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes.

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

This Week’s Featured Bloggers

Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers who shared their purple photos. I add these all week as new links are posted.

“Yesterday and tomorrow cross and mix on the skyline. The two are lost in a purple haze. One forgets, one waits.” ~ Carl Sandburg

I can’t wait to see how you interpret the various shades of purple this week! Join me next week as we explore Pets and Playgrounds.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, daughters, grandmothers, nieces, and “mother figures!”

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signature purple floral

© 2023-2031 Copyright — secondwindleisure.com — All Rights Reserved

Published by Terri Webster Schrandt

Now retired, I am former university adjunct faculty, self-published author, and retired recreation and parks practitioner living in Eastern Washington State near the Idaho border. Second Wind Leisure Perspectives is my blog about living a leisure lifestyle that includes fitness, photography, and fun.

126 thoughts on “Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge: In a #Purple Haze”

  1. I thought of the song “Purple Rain” when I saw your reference to Purple Haze. We play Mexican Train dominoes regularly and I always grab the Purple Train in honor of Prince.
    Thanks to AI, here’s a poem:
    In the land where melodies reign,
    A tale unfolds, the Purple Train.
    Its rhythm carries souls afar,
    Guided by the midnight star.

    With wheels adorned in violet hue,
    It glides upon the tracks so true.
    A symphony in motion, it’s seen,
    A tribute to the song, Purple Rain.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. What a gorgeous array of purples, Terri! I love the night sky petunia, haven’t seen that before. I’m going to try and find it. So beautiful! I’ve just planted a hydrangea which I hope I can keep blue…we’ll see 🤞🏼

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Purple seems to reign in the plant kingdom, Cathy. Yes, I found the night sky petunia at our nursery, and the fruit stand had a mix of petunias, one called strawberry skies–a dark pink version. I hope you can find them–they are stunning! Lots of water to the hydrangea–after all Hydra is the root word for water, LOL!

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  6. Congratulations and Happy 5th Anniversary!!! And, Happy Mother’s Day to you too. I love all the purple flowers you shared. So glorious. Each one has its own special way of displaying its glory. Thanks for being our dedicated host of the Sunday Stills!!!

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  11. Terri, our Jacaranda trees are blooming early this year. I saw one the other day but didn’t have a convenient place to pull over and snap a shot. The ones you’ve shown here are stunning. Hibiscus is prevalent here, but I have never seen a blue bayou. Beautiful.

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    1. How interesting, Suzanne! I took those jacaranda tree shots a few years ago in June. It was a treat because we rarely visit SD that time of year. The blue bayou hibiscus was a hybrid I saw at the Hilo Botanical Gardens. Hibiscus grow wild in San Diego too–they must like tropical air.

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  13. Congratulations on 5 years of Sunday Stills! What better way to celebrate than with purple! I really love your featured image. And so many gorgeous purple flowers! Someday I’d like to come celebrate the lilacs in Spokane during the festival. My favorite flower festival is in Sequim, so I’m sharing lots of lavender. 🙂

    Can you have too much Lavender?

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  30. Your Lupines remind me of our backpacking trek and finding them the lake shoreline. I have a love hate relationship with jacarandas! They’re so beautiful and especially stunning when driving along a street lined on both sides. Then you park under one and have your cars paint finish ruined by the dropped blooms. That was a sad day to know I’d never have a jacaranda of my own but will always admire from afar.

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    1. The lupines are popping up everywhere 💜. Sad to hear the Jacaranda blooms damage car paint. We’ve had our share of ornamental plums and cherries dropping on our cars at our workplaces in Sacramento.

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  34. Fun challenge Terri – I may have a few purples in my public art post, if so I’ll come back with a link. In the meanwhile your flowers are gorgeous! Thanks for thinking of us at Lens-Artists!

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  38. I’m a big fan of purple, Terri. Your photos are beautiful. They make me want to run to the nursery and plant. I have two purple lilacs but they’re still babies, so no flowers yet. A hydrangea would be nice! *Rubs hands together*. ❤

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    1. Hahaha, thank you, Diana I can visualize you rubbing your hands together! Hydrangeas seem to be easy if you keep them “hydra”-ated. Then cover them when it snows like I failed to do last winter. Good luck! Hope you had a nice Mother’s Day…I know we’re at the age where we remember our moms rather than see them. 😦

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      1. Yeah. It was my first where I didn’t make a phone call to my mom. 😦 Just feeling grateful for her.

        And thanks for the tip on the hydrangeas. That won’t work for me, since I’m the kind of gardner who puts thing in the ground and wishes them luck. It’s going to have to be an easy perenial – purple asters. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

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  45. Is it already five years since you bought back Sunday Stills, Terri? It only seems like you began the challenge again yesterday, but time goes quickly when you’re enjoying yourself. Congratulations on five years of Sunday Stills.

    I like purple because of my favourite fruit – plums. Plum season in the UK begins in late August. And I have to say that British plumbs are the best tasting.

    The flower displays in your photos are amazing. And I love the ladybird sitting on top of one of the plants. That’s a nice contrast.

    Here’s my entry.

    You recommended looking at something more than flowers, so there you go.

    Enjoy the rest of the week.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. 5 years really did go quickly, Hugh, crazy to look back at the last 5 years to see what changed. To think I was about to give up blogging, then I had the idea to resurrect Sunday Stills. Hosting this feature these 5 years changed my blogging life and allowed for more personal relationships to develop.
      Plums are pretty but I don’t like them much unless their made into jam. Funny story, at our former home, a neighbors plum tree dropped ripe plums into our yard. Our dog Oreo ate them and got drunk on several occasions as the plums overripened into alcohol sugars. I think the birds were drunk too 🤣
      Thank you for submitting that cool number image. Purple is such a rich color and it’s fun to see others’ takes on the theme.

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  46. Hi, Terri!,
    My Mother-in-law’s maiden name was Lavender, and she loved wearing the color, so purple is a favorite around here. I love your flower pictures. The lilac is my favorite. I’m attaching a snap of the purple tulips we had at our previous home. Great color choice for spring! Thanks! Joe

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      1. Great line, Terri! I’m actually wearing purple leggings today and back when I was 20 and in college I think my entire wardrobe that year was shades of purple. Seriously! Thanks for the great challenge.

        Liked by 1 person

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  49. I wanted to like the lilacs the best as they are a favorite of mine for spring. But that ladybug is a stunning contrast to the lupine. And the purple radishes at sunset is a postcard. Always love seeing your challenge, even if I don’t always come along. Congratulations.

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    1. Thank you, Donna! I always appreciate when a great photographer like yourself sends a compliment my way 🙂 Do you ever catch bugs on your flowers after the fact? Happens to me a lot–then when I try, I can’t get them to pose, LOL!

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  52. What an array of purple flowers you have here Terri – all of them are beautiful and I’ve never seen that Night Sky Petunia before – what a great name for what does look like a starry, starry night, just what we are supposed to have tonight.

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    1. Thank you, Linda! I hadn’t heard of the night sky petunia either until I found it at the nursery down the street. There is also a strawberry sky petunia which I also got. Enjoy your stars, we have smoke from wildfires in Alberta Canada..already

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      1. I just Googled that Strawberry Sky Terri – very pretty. And you can’t kill petunias, no matter how hot/dry the weather is, or if they get water logged. Believe it or not we’re getting some haze from the wildfires as well and some vivid sunrises and sunsets all the way in Southeast Michigan.

        Liked by 1 person

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  54. Terri, these are the most amazing photos EVER! I love the starlit petunias and the jacarandas – scrumptious. If you scroll through the post really fast, it’s just a treat to the sense of sight! Your Tanka photo is gorgeous as is your first shot that you put through a filter. I love them all!
    Thanks for checking up on me. I’m almost ready to publish my post for today, finally. I just need to do a bit of linking and reading yet. I

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    1. Thank you Marsha! I had so much purple, and I forgot that I might have a purple dahlia from our trip. Oh well, next month. I’ve been introduced to a lot of unique flowers and wildflowers since I’ve lived here. I’m looking forward to your post…did you decide on some good appliances?

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. No, we spent so much time waiting and then he had trouble getting his paperwork together that Vince had to get to his doctor’s appointment. TMI on your post, LOL!

        Liked by 1 person

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