I am reminded every day of my love for shades of purple in the garden. It’s not something I plan. I don’t decide to go for a color scheme as some garden designers do. I just plant what I love. There’s purple phlox, purple coneflowers (lots and lots of them), purple hydrangea, purple catmint, and purple blooms on the crown vetch. There’s also a purple butterfly bush:
Purple Liatris:
And, much to my delight, there are purple flowers of the wildflower variety, that pop up here and there on the property.
I’m not sure what this is called, but it’s on the property every year.
This is what it looks like when it opens. So pretty!
Then there’s the Purple Loosestrife that pops up down by the culvert – it likes water. Yes, I know it can be invasive but in my nearly 11 years here, it’s never become a problem.
I became fascinated by this bee. (I have a penchant for snapping pictures of bees.)
I stopped trying to count the variety of bees on this property, including the honey bees in the catalpa. There are a lot. And that is a good thing! We need them.
I putzed around the house yesterday, watered the plants that needed watering, ran a couple of errands, and worked on the new dollhouse project.
I put this together – the box for the fireplaces (one on each floor) plus the chimney. Lots of careful punching out of the pieces, trying to figure out the directions, sanding each piece, glueing and clamping. But it turned out well. Sigh of relief.
That was my dad’s screwdriver. I keep it up here in the studio with my tools.
Today? Mowing. Rain is due tomorrow, so we need to tackle the lawn today. And more work on this fiddly dollhouse project. I’m starting to enjoy it, though. The trick with this one will be making design decisions as I go, not my preferred way to work, but since this is half scale, it would be impossible to get my hands inside each room to wallpaper, for example. So I ordered some half scale wallpaper yesterday, after a futile attempt to find what I want in the scrapbook paper aisle. The prints were way too large in scale. I’ll need to paint as I go, as well. Yikes.
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Happy Friday.
Your garden is such a delight and I love all the purple flowers! That is such a tiny dollhouse it will be interesting to watch you build this one. It rained a lot last night and my flowers needed it badly. Tiger will go meet his new teacher this afternoon, at least he is excited about starting Kindergarten!
hugs,
Linda
Good luck to Tiger! Very, very exciting for him!
I love purple in my garden too. I just realized I don’t have any purple in my house though? I might have to change that! Take care.
Funny! I don’t have an purple in my house either!
Now the lyrics to “Deep Purple” are running through my head!
I think your approach to The Fairfield is very sensible. It’s a bit like playing chess, having to think three steps ahead. Of course the internet and YouTube are wonderful tools – the site “More Minis @ Blogspot” is very helpful with pictures of step by step assembly. Persevere! It’s going to be your best build yet.
Yes, I already have More Minis bookmarked in my browser. Thank goodness for helpful miniaturists. And the Greenfield Form has some great tips as well!
The thinking ahead part of it is difficult, but I expect I’ll get better at it as I go.
Maybe a little purple in the new dollhouse? You have a lot of patience to work on something so small. It is fun to see how you put it together. I can see the fireplace.
There may be some purple there, Doris. We’ll see….
The thistles that I kept for the gold finches have purple blooms…I think I need more purple. Do you have any lavender? Lovely pics of your blooms. We had a heavy rain last night…and the humidity seems to have broken, at least for a few days. Now, to let everything dry out! ;)
I have some thistles around here, too, but I forgot to photograph them. And yes, I have some lavender. Forgot to mention it!
I don’t get to walk in gardens much, so your lovely photos always brighten my day! :D
Oh, thank you, Brae! I’m so glad you enjoy them. xo
Your mystery flower is actually Cornflower…they’re not all blue! :)
I’m confused! We have something else here that I was told was a cornflower…. I’ll have to research this!
Just came back from looking it up, and it sure looks like you’re right, Lori. Thanks!
Purple in all shades is my very favorite color and I have several different flowers varieties in the yard all in purple. None in the house though. I had never thought about that until I read the comments here. :-). I can’t imagine tackling a half scale house. You are one talented lady Claudia.
Blessings,
Betsy
Well, we’ll see, Betsy! This seems to be an enormous undertaking at the moment, Betsy!
I have lots of purple in my garden too, as well as yellows, salmons, and different shades of red/deep pink. It’s supposed to rain here too, but only 5-10% chance. This new build will expand your skills, Claudia.
That’s what I’m hoping for, Wendy. The scale is so much smaller than I’m used to!
We are expecting rain and maybe a storm here today and tonight…My hostas have purple flowers that the bees and hummingbirds love…I am anxious to see that little house all put together..
Whoops! Forgot about the purple flowers on my hostas! It’s starting to feel a bit humid out there, as if there’s a storm on the way.
Purple would be a huge part of my garden if I actually owned enough real estate to design one. As it is, I have petunias in shades of pink and purple in terra cotta containers, and hanging baskets of geraniums, spike and vinca vine on my covered porch and front door. And the purple is that very deep velvety purple that looks black from a distance.
PS – I did an audible “awwww…” when I saw your Dad’s screwdriver. I have many tools given to me by my father too. Dad was a lifetime “picker” – always stopping alongside roadsides to poke through trash piles awaiting pickup. He just couldn’t resist them. And he was always rewarded for doing so, finding perfectly-usable things all the time. It truly is amazing what some people will toss as trash. Minor repairs were needed for some items occasionally, but often it was just cleaned up and put into use. Except for a new blue trike I got from my godfather at age 4, ALL our bicycles were roadside finds as well as countless other stuff. Lawn chairs, big canning kettles for my Mom, electric fans, toys of all kinds, you name it. And mountains of tools – so many that Dad was able to present each of his 6 kids with a new Sears Craftsman toolbox full of tool basics when they moved out. And a very comprehensive set it’s been. Except for sandpaper and an extension cord I haven’t had to buy anything to add to my own box in 30 years! 🔨
That’s a great gift from your dad! I also have a lot of my grandfather’s tools – smallish tools – that I inherited when he died.
Your purple flowers are beautiful Claudia. Purple is my sister in laws favorite color. Her mom passed away a few days ago and they ordered a dark purple casket. Who knew? It’s beautiful here today, 91 but feels like 99. We are staying inside enjoying the air as much as possible. Hope you and Don have a lovely weekend.
Stay inside and stay cool, Janie!
I have my grandfather’s hammer in my girlie toolbox; I love seeing it there. My grandmother’s stew pot. My other grandma’s big wooden spoon which my mom would use to stir jam when she’d can in summer. None of this would mean anything to anybody else, but I know their history and they’re small things which are comforting.
There’s random purple and blues in my yard; never planned, just happened. My fledgling jacaranda tree has been flowering a sort of pinky-purple for weeks now (older varieties have a more blue-purple tone; we have them in our town, well over 100 years in age, usually found in the historical areas of the city with of course the oldest homes and landmarks…they’re drought-resistant trees but many are suffering from too many years now of little-to-no rainfall, so spindly yet trying so hard to bloom, which can start as early as April but which is on the way out in August). Something that really irritates me is that people here are not accustomed to watering trees, some of which have been around their/our whole lives which you never had to worry about pre-drought, have lost their trees…beautiful trees which enhanced neighborhoods, improved the air, provided wonderful shade and softened aging houses. Yes, we have been under water-use restriction for years but we’ve never been told you can’t water at all nor have we been penalized (yet) for how much water we use in terms of bill charges for overuse. We’ve lost trees now that can never be replaced simply because a historic oak tree, for instance was on the other side of the sidewalk, at the curb, in a no-man’s land of City vs homeowner. I don’t blame the City; they were under strict guidelines by the Governor. If it had been me, just how hard would it have been as the adjacent homeowner to move the garden hose over a couple of feet to save a tree? The City has recently cut down giant trees, planted before my mother was born, which I watched slowly die. The streets where those trees lived will never look the same. People on my own block have let their trees die, and we didn’t have enough to begin with; now, we look like a war zone of dead lawns, dead plants and only 8 front-yard trees remaining in a tract of 50 homes. Welcome to California’s Drought. The intense sun beats down; no shade. Desolate. A real challenge for wild birds.
Anyway, I was actually happily surprised over time to learn that there are many plants which have flowering blue/lavenders/purple. I do love organized gardens with planned colors…I guess I should say I very much admire them…but, it’ll never be me; I don’t have that kind of organization in my life!
Your photos are always so good, Claudia; very interesting wildflowers on your property. Of course here in SoCalif, especially in April/May if we’ve had a good rain year (THAT, again, hasn’t happened in too, too long!), we’re lucky to have blue lupine growing wild in the hills and it never fails to stop me in my tracks with awe. Brief growing time; have to catch it right or you’ll miss it.
Again, your doll house project to me is DAUNTING; looking at those instructions would aggravate my brain! Gonna be fun to watch your progress with the house; I really don’t know what to expect except that your track record is excellent.
Have a good weekend!
The loss of those trees is heartbreaking, Vicki. I would have risked a fine and watered them. They are living beings and need our help, don’t you think? So sad. I know the drought takes a terrible, terrible toll.
Oh, but Trump says there is no drought in California. Oy.
Well, we’re all in this world together. If we can help a tree, it’ll help us. I’m a tree person, for sure.
He actually said that? Maybe he should come live here…no, actually; please don’t.
Yes, he did say that. He also doesn’t believe in global warming.
That purple “unknown” almost looks like Bee Balm….. maybe it is just the angle I am seeing. We have Russian Sage in the yard, and I love the way it gets so leggy on the silvery foliage, with the beautiful pale lilac color. On a day with some wind, it is so much fun to just sit and look at it bowing in the breeze.
As Donnamae said, we had some wonderful rain last evening. Didn’t have to water this morning!! The humidity seems to have broken somewhat, and it is only about 81*. Back into the upper 80’s and low 90’s next week with more humidity. It is like a pattern we are in now.
Hope you had a great day and a grand weekend ahead!!
It does look like bee balm. Is there such a thing as wild bee balm? I wonder…
So glad you got some rain!
I love purple as well it the begining of spring I have a ray of purpleness, and I can not remeber their names. I didn’t plant them, they just blew in and it is funny I have always admirred them from afar over the years and never new the name. I found it ince and forgot. One day I think I shall build a little doll house, but, for now I have a fifties tin one. Have a lovley evening and great weekend. With love Janice
I love those fifties tin houses, Janice. I had one myself!
Stunning photographs, as always, Claudia.
Factoid: Bee balm is in the mint family. Members of the mint family always have square stems. That flower appears to have a round stem (I can’t be sure from the photograph), which would mean it is not a bee balm. I can’t identify this plant for sure, but I would put it in the sunflower, sometimes called daisy, family. It does resemble thistle and cornflower, which are in the sunflower family.
I’m looking forward to seeing some purple in one of your dollhouses someday!
I think it’s a cornflower. I researched it and it sure looks like one.