Color My Monday... Purple

When my family moved from the east side of Cleveland to the west, we were looking for a newer home with a smaller yard that wouldn't require a lot of maintenance. Of course, you never find exactly what you want and we figured that two out of three weren't bad. So, we got a newer home with a smaller yard that was mostly made up of flower beds with gorgeous perennials. Needless to say, the perennials make for somewhat less maintenance than annuals, but there is definitely a lot to take care of.

Despite the extra work, I do love our home and I adore the perennial gardens. The previous owner had a flare for mixing colors and bloom times so that the garden is beautiful from the first buds of spring all the way into late fall, but I find that toward this time of year, the main color in the garden is purple. So, with that said, let's get on to the pictures, shall we?

This Russian Sage has completely blocked the 3-foot gate on the west side of our yard. I took my picture just after a rain shower, but usually at this time of day the plant is teeming with honey bees.

I actually rotated this picture of a Cone Flower growing near the back fence to make the flower easier to look at -- can you tell?

I have always loved Hydrangeas. This plant is hidden in my side yard, facing the neighbor's house, but I plan to move it to a more prominent location this fall. You would NOT believe all the different colors in this single plant... purple, pink, blue, white.... it's amazing.

I tried to get a better variety of the flowers in this shot, but the picture just does not do it justice.

My last stop in the garden tour was this Rose of Sharon located just outside our property line. I'm going to let you in on a little secret... I HATE Rose of Sharon. When I was a child, my parents had a Rose of Sharon growing outside their bedroom window and the bees used to hide inside the flowers. You never knew which flower held a bee until it was too late.

Then, later, when I bought my first home, my next door neighbors had a row of Rose of Sharon between our two houses. I would spend HOURS digging seedlings out of my flower beds. Ugh!

On the bright side... now that I get to enjoy a Rose of Sharon that's not on my property -- maybe it's not so bad *wink*

And now, on to some guest images that I received for this week's Color My Monday...

This week, I have another image submitted by Hind (of Egypt). This photo too was taken by Hind's daughter Butheina, who is an art teacher and amateur photographer.

Hind tells me that the woman in the photos is a member of a folkloric dance troupe, which was preforming on a street-festival in Alexandria last May.

I love the motion in this picture and how the dancer's skirts look so much like the curled petals from the Rose of Sharon in the last photo.

Happy Monday to everyone and thank you once again Hind for helping my to color my Monday a little brighter! I hope you'll all be able to help me Color My Monday Red next time by sending me a glimpse of your world. Send an email with photo attached to ibscrochet@gmail.com with the subject "Red."

For additional information on participating in Color My Mondays, see the original post.