Cuphea 'Purple Passion'

I spied this cuphea in the Baker Creek catalog last winter and wondered... Could it really be that good of a color? And I thought... not freakin' likely. But the part of me that loves cupheas, or maybe the part of me that loves to prove people wrong and then get mad about how they lied, ordered the seeds anyway. And now I can tell you: Cuphea lanceolata 'Purple Passion' is really that color - like blackberries bobbing in Pinot Noir, lit from behind by a sunset. Mine is growing amongst bronze fennel, which makes for a quiet little combination that you have to examine up close to appreciate.