The Color Purple

With the flurry of Christmas preparations occurring in our household on this Wednesday morning in Melbourne, it would perhaps be more appropriate to do a post on the colors of red or green.  If there is one color that I will forever associate with the month of December in Australia, however, I believe it will be the color purple.  

For starters, there is a beautiful flowering tree that blossoms to a gorgeous deep shade of violet in mid December, the jacaranda.  Then there are the agapanthus plants everywhere in Melbourne that are just coming into their full glory in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  They are surrounded by countless other flowers in all shades of purple.  My attempts to capture them, particularly the jacaranda, on my phone camera are disappointing, but I will share them anyway, and then finish with my favorite purple photos from 2012.

Soon the blossoms will fall, leaving a pretty purple carpet underneath the trees.  As for the agapanthus, I took so many photos last year, that I am ignoring them this year.  Here is one token photo from 2012:

Flowers certainly are the theme of this purple post, but they are not the only thing that comes to mind when I think of with the color purple in Melbourne.  I am sure I have mentioned before that nearly all schools in Australia, whether public or private, require their students to wear a uniform.  It seems to me that blue is the most common color, with the occasional red, gray, or green uniform thrown in to change things up a bit. There is one school, though, that really stands out with its choice of purple for the compulsory uniform.  The students of Wesley College are instantly recognizable all over the city, whether they are wearing the bright purple blazer, the light purple dress shirt, or the striped purple P.E. uniform.

Finally, I went through some of the photos shot with my Nikon d5000 from the past year and picked a few to share.  My all-time favorite is at the top.  It was taken at Cousin Maxine's cottage in New Brunswick, Canada, last July, as were the last two in this post. The remaining ones were taken near our house in Australia. As always, if you would like to vote for one, please do! I enjoy hearing from my readers.  

 

Comments

[Anne Jones]

You could sell your photos. They are so beautiful! I love reading your blog. :) The purple flowers have been my favorite. Maybe because I can't imagine seeing them in December. :)

[Christie Wilkin]

Thanks Anne! It really doesn't seem like Christmas is just around the corner, but we are preparing for it anyway. Sounds like you have enjoyed a mild start to winter in Pittsburgh.

[Sophie Wilkin]

I think this post is really pretty. the purple flowers are really nice.

[janetjames]

Beautiful!!

[Nikki]

I especially love the 8th picture down. It's so unusual. I definitely agree with Anne that you could sell your photos. You should start a greeting card line. They certainly have brightened up my wallpaper on my computer. Thank you!

[Linda Renaud]

I like the first picture, taken at your Cousin Maxine's cottage. The previous set of pictures showing a house with purple/white fencing is beautiful too. Australia is gorgeous.

[Shanda]

Beautiful!