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my photos

THE COLOUR PURPLE

I think the majority of us are familiar with Verbena bonariensis with its tall and willowey, candleabra-like stems. The photo above is of one of its many relations, Verbena rigida.

This smaller, more robust version with its much shorter stems, carries vibrant mauve flower heads on each. It never fails to grab mine, or butterflies, bees and hoverflies attention.



My neighbour pulled up some clumps of this from her garden when we first moved here, some ten years ago. Osteospermum, white with a splash of pink/purple. It's a great gap filler and I have maximised on this by taking lots of cuttings to make new plants, which soon establish.



Statice, one of my all time favourites. So easy to grow from seed and one packet goes a long, long way.

All these plants I would describe as a border line annual. With the warmer climate here in the South, mine make it through the winter months.