Purple Pride

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Enchanted Seashells

I’m referring to Pride of Madeira, the superstar of my garden!

This plant REALLY loves the environment here at Casa de Enchanted Seashells. I read that it’s becoming invasive in places along the coast and I can see how that could happen as it easily reseeds itself.

Native to Madeira Island, north of the Canary Islands, it’s a tough perennial and can survive all summer with little to no water. Since I think we’ve seen the last of our record-breaking rainfall here in SoCal, that’s exactly what they’ll have to do to survive.

And in a different part of the garden, a slightly different hue…It’s HUGE.

Bees love it too. So do hummingbirds and butterflies.

Pride of Madeira grows to about six feet tall and some of my specimens are twice as wide as they are tall.

I quite literally have dozens of baby Prides if anyone wants to plant them in their garden!

Midnight Lily

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Enchanted Seashells

This Odessa Calla Lily (Zantedeschia rehmannii violacea) is dark as a moonless night. In shade, the deep purple bloom is nearly black. Today, sunshine illuminates the royal purple curve of the petals. It’s one of my favorite flowers, especially since it thrives in the hot summer sun of rain-deprived SoCal.

Shades of Purple

Posted on March 25, 2021 by Enchanted Seashells

The word “purple” is not a pretty word. Say it out loud. It doesn’t even sound pleasant, right? I looked up the etymology of the word:

Old English (describing the clothing of an emperor), alteration of purpre, from Latin purpura ‘purple’, from Greek porphura, denoting mollusks that yielded a crimson dye, also cloth dyed with this. (From Oxford Languages)

I like these words better:
-lavender
-lilac
-mauve
-periwinkle
-plum
-violet
-amaranthine

As much as I noticed all the sunny garden yellows a couple weeks ago, now THIS color palette caught my eye, and the bees are happy, too!