NB: A note for WordPress Reader users – you need to click on the title of the post again to come out of the reader and go to the post itself. This allows you to see the whole of the top photograph. (Otherwise you may see just a tiny section!)
More rain-splashed blue flowers for this week – though the reverse of the flower of Geranium ‘Rozanne’ is more of a purple-blue. A lot of supposedly blue flowers are, like this, not quite blue. I’ve just read that the reason for it is that plants don’t have any true blue pigments.
So how do plants like forget-me-nots and borage make their flowers look so blue? Apparently the colour comes from the chemical manipulation of the anthocyanin pigments that create reds. From the point of view of the plant, it’s worth the extra effort because the eyesight of bees is especially responsive to blue.
If I’d done a bit more science at school I might have known about this. That slight pinkish tint in many blue flowers has always intrigued me. Now I know why it’s there. (And now you know how I’ve been passing a rainy afternoon on the internet!)
Knowing that it is less easy for flowers to appear blue makes me appreciate the blue flowers in my garden even more. These pretty flowers of Geranium Rozanne have held up well in the recent rains; now that the sun is shining again I’ll make sure to get out and enjoy the sight of them.
Ann Mackay: Inspired by Nature 
I love purple.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do too – one of my favourite colours!
LikeLike
I haven’t seen Geranium flowers of this particular colour! Lovely!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This geranium is a hardy perennial, Indira, and very different from the tender geraniums (Pelargonium) that you so often see in summer. They are happy in a cooler climate and have a good number of blues and purples (also pink and white varieties). They’re an easy plant to grow here! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
This one’s a beauty. Isn’t it interesting about those anthocyanins? I learned about them when I was trying to understand white sports of flowers like bluebonnets. It’s their absence that results in the unusual white flowers. I remember that, depending on their pH, they can appear as red, purple, blue, or black.
It’s also interesting that bees’ eyes are more responsive to blue. One of the reasons that blueberries (high in anthocyanins) are recommended for our diet is that they contribute to eye health. That’s more a coincidence than anything else, but it’s still cool.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aha! I wonder if that’s why I have white campanulas in amongst the blue ones in my garden – they’ve perhaps ‘lost’ the anthocyanins that would have made them blue. (Looks like it’s all one plant, but is probably several seedlings that were potted up together by the nursery.) Thanks for that interesting bit of information! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s quite a reversed umbrella in the first shot.
My eyes and brain see both sides of the flower as purple rather than blue. That’s especially true in the top picture, in accord with what you said..
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think these flowers are more blue when they’re newly opened and that the blue tends to fade to a more purple colour as they age. I would imagine that by then the flower has been pollinated, so it doesn’t need to stay blue any longer. I’m becoming ever more intrigued by flower colour!
LikeLike
Are you sure this is Rozanne? Mine has a distinct white centre which appears to be missing in these photos. Beautiful though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, that’s interesting! It is Rozanne, and would normally have the white centre. It does vary a bit, as you can see in this post: https://annmackay.blog/2021/10/17/still-flowering/ where you can see that the flower in the top photo has less white than those below. I have other photos where the centre is a more pronounced white and some where the white has a decided pink tinge, as here: https://annmackay.blog/2021/07/25/little-visitors/ (about halfway down the page). It’s the only blue geranium in that area and it’s all the one plant. Strange to see how much it can vary – I wonder if it’s because the flower is older or if the colour is affected by the flower facing down or even colour reflecting off another flower. How odd!
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are far worse ways to pass a rainy afternoon! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
True…or any afternoon really! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I adore Geranium Rozanne! Lovely to see your photos and it reminds me to keep any eye out for her – the plants are readily available here – it’s just that when I’ve seen them it’s never matched with when I had *both* space and $ to make the purchase worthwhile!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s a great plant because it flowers over a very long period – hope you find one at the right time! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person