Russian Sage

Do-Something-Everyday, Sept 14, 2016

With autumn just a week away the only plant that is blooming in my yard is Russian Sage (Perovskia atripcifolia). Despite its common name, it is not part of the sage family and it is not native to Russia. It's also sometimes confused with lavender because of the violet flowers but as you can see above its leaf shapes are completely different. Like lavender and sage, its leaves are aromatic when crushed and has a long history of use in traditional medicine.The flowers are supposed to be edible though I have never tried them. The flowers are attractive to bees and butterflies.

A couple of days ago, I was inspired to paint this faithful perennial. I painted it directly without doing a sketch first. I used just two colors: green and violet. Which makes it  a perfect candidate for Try it on Tuesday's this weeks challenge to use just two colors for the project.

Also linked to Paint Party Friday. Thanks to Eva and Kristin for hosting.

Thanks for visiting.