7 Apr 2013

A - Z Challenge - G

(Sorry. I posted this a day early. I'll make up for it by not posting tomorrow.)

Geranium pretense. Generous.
 
The thick stem of the robust plant Geranium produces a beautiful blue flower but droops before and after flowering. Often called Meadow Cranesbill, the seeds of this numerous-rooted plant are dispersed by mammals, birds or water. Some of the common Geranium leaves release a fragrant scent when crushed. 

Generous with its flower heads, the Geranium unfurls another bud as each flower dies off to produce a seed—rather like a furry mammal, which produces numerous offspring to populate the area. In days of old, the mother was the symbol of a generous nature, equipped with sustaining milk. From the early history of Rome, sons of the god Mars, Romulus and Remus were abandoned in the wild. A she-wolf took pity on the helpless babies and fed them her milk. Hence, milk is associated with a generous nature.


Proverb: Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains.

26 comments:

  1. Beautiful. I have some blue geraniums in my garden.

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    1. I used to have some. The perfume is wonderful, isn't it?

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  2. I had no idea. :) MY "G" won't be up til Monday.

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    1. Sorry about the early post. What was I thinking?

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  3. Hi Francene! Clever gal posting early! Lovely geranium - ours are red and orange here in South Africa or white even. I have yet to see a blue/violet one. LOvely history of it too - as well as your proverb thank you!

    Susan Scott's Soul Stuff

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    1. Beautiful, isn't it? The leaves contain the perfume, not the flower.

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  5. lovely. I've never had luck with them though in Texas. I think my garden area gets too hot

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    1. Wildflowers don't transplant well. They long for freedom. ;-)
      Francene.
      A - Z Challenge
      http://francene-wordstitcher.blogspot.co.uk/

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  6. I like the history of the flower presented with the description and photo. Lovely. Maybe you could do hellebore for H? I just discovered this pretty woodland flower in a friend's garden. There could be a poem here on your A to Z challenge! Write on!

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    1. Last year, I chose fruit to link with emotions. This year's theme is harder.

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  7. I've never seen these flowers. The only geraniums I've seen are the red, salmon, and white varieties. I love blue flowers, but they may not be appropriate for our area (Pacific west coast, Canada). I also like fragrant flowers, they make gardening enjoyable. Our geraniums (I like the red) are hardy enough to live until November here.

    Very nice, Francene.

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    1. These are the wild geraniums with perfumed leaves. They don't want to grow anywhere but home. ;-)

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  8. I'm enjoying seeing your beautiful flowers! Don't worry about posting early, I've seen a bunch of mis-fired posts that people were intending to schedule but accidentally published. I saw Z yesterday! I guess that blogger was eager to be done... :)

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    1. Sooo funny. I don't think I'll ever be that eager. ;-)

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  9. We have a number of colours in our garden. Mr A has made a point of buying unusual varieties if ever we see them and the common blue one, as you've said, does spread so we use it to fill in bare spaces. It makes a lovely splash of colour.

    Rosalind Adam is Writing in the Rain

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    1. I love how the plant trails and droops over the bare soil.

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  10. The geraniums we get here in Canada are lovely and I use a pinkish and an orangish one in the garden. But I find the petals are sticky and not pleasant to the touch Still too cold here for any blooms yet

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    1. Here, the perfumed leaves smell divine when crushed.

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  11. Beautiful flower. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. Love this line "milk is associated with generous nature," and the story behind it.

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    1. Hehe. The way my mind works astounds me sometimes.

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  12. My grandma always had these blooming - thank you for the lovely memory of her. :-)

    Thanks for stopping by my blog! Happy A to Zing!

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  13. How loevely! Each flower unfolding to relase a new seed? Very poetic the way you tied it in to mothering.

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  14. I like this version of the geranium much better than our American version, which is not one of my favorite flowers.

    www.marie-everydaymiracle.blogspot.com

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