Lemon a day

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lemonaday.   size 4 in x 6 in 12cm x 15cm watercolour on heavy weight rag paper

There will come a gap in the strawberry harvest to correspond to the three nights of frost that we had a few weeks back. Still it’s really good to have strawberries before Wimbledon and I have some late cropping ones to provide backup later. They are not going to be loads later as they have already set fruit.

The vines which were nipped by the frost are growing on and have flower buds, who knows we might get some fruit this year. I don’t mind there being no fruit as I value the leaves to make stuffed vine leaves at least as much as the grapes. When I visited a local vineyard Ridgeview I wondered at the rows of what looked like plain sided paint cans between the rows, it turns out they had been so worried by the frost that they had been making a smoke barrier overnight; whatever the substance they burn it is in the tins.

I am going to list the geraniums as whenever I try and do it mentally I get to a number and realise I’ve forgotten something or counted twice:

1)Purple  probably Geranium magnificum, flowers once dense clump

2)Pink Geranium × oxonianum a veined pink quite leafy does well in the shade a bit rough and ready for the border.

3)Paler pink neat mound probably Geranium endressii, flowers most of the summer.

4) Geranium procurrens purple with black eye trailing to climbing roots at nodes.

5) Geranium pyrenaicum alba white, self sows, pretty leaf needs firm management.

6) Geranium reynardii white ,lovely grey detailed leaves this is newly brought from my trip to Shropshire where my mother’s friend grows it.

7)Geranium Purple haze Dark purpled leaves and a light mauve flower one flowering in June. Self sows.

8) Geranium asphodeloides not flowered this yet it is newly propagated from borrowed seed. It has a mass of pale mauve starry flowers. Very delicate

9) Geraniumx Patricia Big leaves and showy magenta flowers over a long period.

10)Geranium sanguineum standard bloody cranesbill. Needs the old seed heads removed to keep it in flower.

11) Geranium kashmir white

12) Geranium kashmir purple both from my father in law

13)Geranium pratense tall pale blue flowers once a summer may repeat a bit, this is another “probably”, as again it came from seed that was picked in someone’s garden.

14) Geranium pratense tall white

15) Geranium x Russel Pritchard

16)  Geranium orientalitibeticum, low growing, pink, pretty marbled leaves and creeps underground,(badly in light soils sorry Angela!)its well behaved here on heavy clay.

17) Geranium cinereum subcaulescens is a survivor on the parched roof garden.

Only the first was in the garden when we moved here five years ago and the others we either brought with us ,begged off others (my father in law is an enthusiast) or have grown from seed.

Two were bought from nurserymen and two from plant sales.One came in a box from Woolworths! tomorrow I will post a photograph of some of them.

I could not resist another quick sketch of the Iris as it does not last long.

 Alison

#68 a painting a day by Alison Warner on her lemon a day art blog