A Purple Passion

A lot of lovely purple is happening in the garden.

This passionflower, Passiflora x “Incense,” is really coming into its own – it puts out three to five of these spectacular blooms each day.

This is Purple Majesty millet; I was worried that the photo was out of focus, looking at it on the camera, but then I realized that the flower itself has jaggedy edges!

This is a standard Ruellia.  It’s about waist-high now, and has usually a dozen or more blooms each day.  They fall off by late afternoon, but always put up a fresh crop.

This is a Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae.  I love to watch them – you can’t see it in a still photo, but the white areas on its wings are reflective, like metal.

She’s laying eggs on my passionflowers.  Fortunately, the wasp patrol keeps them pretty thoroughly in check.  I’m a little sad that I won’t be getting more baby butterflies, but glad there aren’t huge holes in my vine.  The caterpillars are voracious, and can strip a vine to stems in just a few days if conditions are just right.