As if

I'm currently transfixed by these purple patches on a sunny slope nearby. The area was cleared of bramble and scrub last year and now the ground is daubed with violet. But not with violets as I first thought, but with the tiny labiate flowers of ground ivy, Glechoma hederecea. Exposure to direct sun has meant that the flowers cleave close to the earth instead of trailing - the plant is known as creeping charlie in America whither the useful, pungent, herb was taken long ago, for its medicinal and edible qualities, but is now regarded as a weed.


What caught my attention was the shadow thrown by the tree with the barley sugar trunk. Its conjunction with the little mauve flowers took me straight back to the unforgettable sight of the jacaranda trees that turn the streets of Buenos Aires into arteries of blue every spring. I was only passing through by bus but the memory will stay with me forever. Because the flowers appear before the leaves the trees seem clad in purple foliage and the entire city centre is suffused with colour.
I found some pictures here.