May scuttled across my calendar like a gremlin and took with it all but two braincells. The ones I have left are fighting.
Also, I have no pictures for my color story. Hell, I don’t have a story!
When I planned the year of colors, I knew May would be Jacaranda. May is jacaranda season in southern California, if you recall from last year’s post. I took those pictures in June and I remember worrying I wouldn’t get them before the jacarandas shed their blossoms. So for this year, I made sure to assign purple to May. I figured it would be my easy month.
Oh, foreshadowing. How you vex me!
Sine the temperature held steady at “witch’s teat” the last few months, Spring took longer to spring. The jacaranda trees, normally pelting our cars and driveways with sticky purple by now, have completely disengaged from nature. They’re like the guy who looks across the table at his wife, takes a bite of casserole and says, “Yeah, I don’t feel like doing this anymore.”
Well, thanks jacaranda. Just so you know, I don’t really feel like driving around town looking for your apathetic little limbs when a gallon of gas costs more than a tube of lip gloss. (Cover Girl Fruit Spritzer lip gloss, but whatever. Grape Splash should have you real worried right now. Real worried.) So, yeah, after a couple of turns around the city I didn’t feel like doing it anymore either, jacaranda, but I did. I did because some of us honor our commitments.
The color purple symbolizes wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and magic. Whatever. Lame. It is also one of the rarest colors in nature. You don’t freakin’ say?
I had no idea. <—–Sarcasm.
Oh, look. Society garlic. A plant with leaves that smell like garlic.
Although society garlic’s flowers resemble delicate spring blossoms, they are actually rough and ready to tough it out all summer long. Enduring bouts of extreme heat, humidity and cloudbursting thunderstorms they effortlessly retain their beauty throughout. [source]
Glad to know someone around here is willing to take one for the team, jacaranda.
Here is an agapanthus. It’s purple.
++++++++++++++
This was a color story. Or rant. Whatever. Please leave a link to yours in the comments, if you are so inclined. Otherwise, will you join me in June? The theme is peacockthe blues and teals and everything in between of summer. Find any shade of blue around your home, your town, or your inspiration folder. Stuff you make, stuff you buy, stuff you photograph. No pressure. (Do it.)
I love it! And a plant with leaves that smell of garlic … who knew? It reminds of me of this tree with beautiful white blossoms–I haven’t a clue what it’s called, but it stinks. My mom and I found this out years ago when we cut some branches and brought them in to my grandma. I remember saying, “Something smells out here … ” It was only when we brought it inside that we realized it was the tree.
So. Color stories. You know, I keep hoping mine will get better–I think this one’s the worst yet (especially since a couple look more pink that purple :) …
http://www.magpieandmuttonfly.com/2011/06/color-story-may-jacaranda/
I adore flowering trees… and I never knew about those!
funny now that I look around my garden I see everything I chose was purple. I have lupines from my sisters garden up in the White Mountains, blue/purple irises from another local source and another small purple/blue flower that I got to set off my sweet potato vines. We also have neighbors that have the most divine wisteria “dripping” from their porch… and I almost forgot the lilacs that line our drive. Heavenly scent but gone past flowering.
I really like your color stories : )
i live in long beach and we’ve been (despite having a doormat at each door) tracking in jacaranda blossoms in various states of decay for a few weeks now. also, i’m hella allergic to it… the tree, its flowers or its pollen i do not know. but there are 2 huge ones outside our apartment and my sinuses have been in revolt.
they are lovely to look at, but the bane of my existence nonetheless.
Damn you, Jacaranda!
I just like the word agapanthus. I say it to myself every time I walk past one of these. Which is a lot, in So Cal.
The jacaranda have been all over the place this year! It’s so funny to see how they all choose different times to flower. Unless you’re waiting for it on a deadline, I guess.