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!
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
“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!
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.
Purple trees
Visits to San Diego in the month of June guarantee views of the beautiful Jacaranda trees.
Perhaps the trees aren’t purple but the Alpine Lupine add their purple touch.
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.
Nesting birds are likely hoping to find insects.
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.
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.
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.
- Cee’s Flower of the Day
- Cee’s CMMC: Imperial Purple
- Denzil’s Nature Photo Challenge: Trees
- Dawn’s Spring Festival
- Johnbo’s CellPic Sunday
- Lens-Artists: Public Art
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.
- YOUR BLOG’S NAME APPEARS HERE:
- The 59 Club
- Always Write
- NEW Great Blue Herons
- Beachwalk Reflections
- Between the Lines
- Cath’s Camera
- Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
- Cee’s Photo Challenges
- The Day After
- Easin’ Along Image shared in comments
- Flights of the Soul
- Frost on the Moose Dung
- NEW Gfpacificbee’s Insights & photography
- Graham’s Island
- Hugh’s Views and News Image shared in comments
- Jacquie Biggar
- LadyLeeManila
- Light Words
- Live Laugh RV
- Loving Life
- Musin’ with Susan
- Philosophy Through Photography
- Picture Retirement
- Quaint Revival
- Roberta Writes
- Stevie Turner
- This is Another Story
- Travel With Me
- Wind Kisses
- Wind Kisses
- Woolly Muses
- Working On Exploring
“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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