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.
Beautiful. I have some blue geraniums in my garden.
ReplyDeleteI used to have some. The perfume is wonderful, isn't it?
DeleteI had no idea. :) MY "G" won't be up til Monday.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the early post. What was I thinking?
DeleteHi 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!
ReplyDeleteSusan Scott's Soul Stuff
Wildflowers constantly surprise us.
DeleteThis is a lovely flower. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, isn't it? The leaves contain the perfume, not the flower.
Deletelovely. I've never had luck with them though in Texas. I think my garden area gets too hot
ReplyDeleteWildflowers don't transplant well. They long for freedom. ;-)
DeleteFrancene.
A - Z Challenge
http://francene-wordstitcher.blogspot.co.uk/
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!
ReplyDeleteLast year, I chose fruit to link with emotions. This year's theme is harder.
DeleteI'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.
ReplyDeleteVery nice, Francene.
These are the wild geraniums with perfumed leaves. They don't want to grow anywhere but home. ;-)
DeleteI'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... :)
ReplyDeleteSooo funny. I don't think I'll ever be that eager. ;-)
DeleteWe 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.
ReplyDeleteRosalind Adam is Writing in the Rain
I love how the plant trails and droops over the bare soil.
DeleteThe 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
ReplyDeleteHere, the perfumed leaves smell divine when crushed.
DeleteBeautiful flower. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. Love this line "milk is associated with generous nature," and the story behind it.
ReplyDeleteHehe. The way my mind works astounds me sometimes.
DeleteMy grandma always had these blooming - thank you for the lovely memory of her. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog! Happy A to Zing!
Flowers so often bring back memoires.
DeleteHow loevely! Each flower unfolding to relase a new seed? Very poetic the way you tied it in to mothering.
ReplyDeleteI like this version of the geranium much better than our American version, which is not one of my favorite flowers.
ReplyDeletewww.marie-everydaymiracle.blogspot.com