A touch of the Canaries

A dull day today with the cloud hanging low over the hills at the back of the house - and over the islands at the front of the house for that matter. 

I haven't been out of the garden today and my only conversation with a fellow human so far (Mrs M is away at the moment) has been a shouted one with my neighbour, who was dumping leaves in my leaf bin (with permission) some forty feet below me. 

This geranium caught my eye - Geranium palmatum is from the Canary Islands and Madeira and is generally winter-hardy here, seeding around all over the place. This one is growing in a crack in the paving. It makes quite a large 'bush' with tall inflorescences of purple-pink flowers in early summer, but even in winter is a good-looking perennial. Well worth trying.