Finding purple in the wild

[friendlymoose]

Purple is not a very common color in nature. At least, that's what I thought. But when I was searching through my photo archive for photos with something purple for this weeks Qurator photo Quest, I actually found dozens of photos with something purple on it (albeit mostly flowers).

I live in the flower region in The Netherlands. Where I live are a lot of flower farms. These farmers have huge fields full of flowers every spring which attract a lot of tourists from all over the world. Most people come to see the famous Dutch tulips, but a bit earlier in spring, the hyacinths bloom. In contrast to tulips, hyacinths have a strong, sweet fragrance. I often go for a bicycle ride through the flower fields during the 'flower season' and love passing the hyacinths. Both for the nice bright colors, like these purple ones as for the smell of them.

This is the entry for the @Qurator Photo Quest for this week.

Another, more peculiar flower is this bearded iris. It has an interesting shape and the color combination of this one; purple and yellow is an unusual one.

In a few nature reserves in The Netherlands we have fields of heather. It's a lovely plant that turns purple in August/September. Than is the time to go to the fields of wild heather because they are all purple then.

The picture above was taken on a bright day, but it wasn't at a large field. I visited a large field once, but it was a bit of a gloomy day, so you can't really see the purple color (and I don't want to fake it in post editing 😂).

Other nice purple flowers are these crocuses. Crocuses are one of the earliest flowers to appear after winter. For me these colorful flowers are the sign that spring is arriving. It makes me happy to spot them after long, cold winters.

This plant is a Ceanothus. It's located in my backyard. It has grown quite big over the years and turns in a beautiful purple 'cloud' in May. It attracts loads of bees as well.

Finally I have a close up of a flower in my backyard I took after a refreshing rain shower.

So actually there's quite a lot of purple... especially in nature.

Thanks for visiting my blog!
Which of the photos did you like best? Let me know in the comments.

Friendlymoose

Comments

[redditposh]

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[riverflows]

On purple and bees:

Bees are unusually sensitive to colours in the blue-to-ultraviolet range, and many flowers that appear purple to humans are especially attractive to them because those flowers often reflect ultraviolet patterns that act like landing guides pointing toward nectar. Humans can’t naturally see ultraviolet light, but bees can, so a flower that looks like a simple lavender bloom to us may appear to a bee as a highly contrasted target with glowing pathways and markers. A lot of bee-pollinated flowers evolved shades of purple, violet, and blue partly because bees detect those colours very efficiently against green foliage, making the flowers easier to find from a distance. Interestingly, bees don’t perceive colour the same way humans do at all: they can’t really see red well, but they are excellent at distinguishing ultraviolet, blue, and green wavelengths. This is why many garden plants marketed as “bee friendly” lean heavily into purple tones — things like lavender, salvia, catmint, and rosemary tend to attract large numbers of pollinators. There’s also evidence that bees can learn and remember colour associations remarkably well, meaning if a purple flower consistently rewards them with nectar, they’ll preferentially revisit similar colours in future foraging trips.

Thanks Chatty. I pulled that up because I'd read something in a book a while back about bees and particularly purple, but also why we usually have purple and yellows in meadows - it's nature's way of saying 'come get us, bees'.

[friendlymoose]

Cool! I didn't know that! But indeed, my purple and yellow flowets attract loads of bees!

[hylene74]

The photos are beautiful; the purple and yellow make a lovely combination. The lily looks gorgeous. Best regards.

[friendlymoose]

Thanks!

[nomikh15]

Beautiful shots! My fav is the 2nd one. Thanks for visiting my post and upvoting 💜

[friendlymoose]

Thanks! Funny how we all have our own favourites!

[erikah]

I'm not a fan of purple, but love flowers and these are nice. We also have German iris here and crocus, which is a bit rarer, but to see so many flowers in one place, it's a dream. Obviously where else than in the Netherlands, right?

[friendlymoose]

Indeed! Where else :D

[riverflows]

I wasn't either but in nature I love it, particularly as bees do. Also, purple in edible veg are super nutritious as well. So it vibes differently for me now - though I'd never wear a purple velvet cape.

[erikah]

Yes, violets and pansies I've seen used on cakes but have never tasted any.

[stresskiller]

!PIMP

[visualshots]

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