It’s finally summer and it’s almost too hot for the cats! We have always loved to have hanging baskets by our kitchen door and this year, despite the delayed spring, we braved a rainy cold afternoon to pick out the ones for this year. There seemed to be just one choice and we hadn’t even a photograph to see what the flowers would be like. So we bought two and brought them home. They are supposed to be the same, but one of them is ‘normal’ with very pretty little red and purple flowers. This one, however, is spectacular with almost translucent petals of rich purple that seem to glow. The flowers are larger and look like the flamboyant petticoats of a flamenco dancer, with thin long stamens reaching their filaments down below like slender legs above the pale anthers. The hummingbirds are drawn to the colour and dart in and out under the blooms, finding what nectar these might hold. To view bonus image and gallery
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