I just adore these complex and intricate little NIGELLAS....but the one seen in this image is even more special to me b/c very rarely do I get a purple one. A little annual that I plant in my gardens every season they always blossom in white, blue or pink....but every few years they delight me even more by sending up a few of these lovely purple blossoms.

Known botanically as NIGELLA damascena I actually started growing these b/c I liked their common name- 'Love-in-a-Mist' so much. I continue, in part, b/c I am fascinated by their complex and sophisticated seed head- seen at the center of the blossom in this image. It's almost like a little animal growing on top of the flower when it starts to wiggle in the breeze.

Taken in my gardens in the evening, I caught this blossom just a day or two before it dropped it's seeds- seen surrounding that lively little seed head.