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the purple shift

I never tire of watching the patterns of my garden, and after I’ve got used to noticing them they are impossible to miss. For instance, the purple shift that happens during the summer lull.

This phenomenon is due in part to the persistence of the purple garden phlox, which, for some reason, always outperforms the white one, the second layer of hosta bloom, the stubborn reemergence of French mallow and the concerted bloom of many other plants, large and small, which for some reason come in purple too.

I can’t say that my garden has a color scheme, although I tried to establish one, but purple is blended into all the seasons, and sometimes it comes through very loudly.

Almost everything is lavender or purple right now: the petunias, the verbena, the sweet alyssum, the basil, the cleomes, the mallow, the Mexican lavender, the hostas, the tiny catmint blossoms, even the eggplant flowers.

This cool period lasts for about a month, to be followed by earth tones: the reds, peaches and browns of the mums, the warm gold of calendulas, the russets and oranges of the geranium foliage, the velvety browns of grass plumes, the bright yellow of goldenrod.

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