Purple

They color of royalty, the color of honor.  Dyes so rare and expensive that only kings and queens wore this color before modern chemicals arrived.  Every time I see a purple plant or flower in nature, it stops me in my tracks.  There's something so painterly about a purple bloom.  My favorite is the cabbage plant below, the crunchy coral reef-like waves of the leaves, the fade to pink in the new growth center.  Or the whisper thin fronds of tall ornamental grasses.  Purple leaves in inky blackness seem so surreal, so unnatural, yet divine.  The kings chose wisely. - l.o.d.

This post concludes my color in nature series and I hope you've enjoyed the boundless artistic inspiration that nature provides as much as I have.  I have always had such a profound respect for the earth's fearless design and color palate.  Going through this past week has made me think about what I see around me in a new, contextualized way.  Picking examples each day has made me uber-aware of the autumn season and the rarity (or propensity) of certain colors.  This is the time of year to celebrate the immortal words of Robert Frost:

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only for an hour. 

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.