Snake's Head Fritillary

Today's the day ..................... for a watercolour

It's going to be a wonderful year for the Fritillaria meleagris  or Snake's Head Fritillaries that grow in our front garden.

They have appeared in profusion over the last couple of weeks and are just beginning to flower.  The distinctive checker-board pattern on the petals looks as if it must have been drawn on by hand and, of course, they always make me think of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the Scottish architect and designer.  

Mackintosh was an accomplished botanical artist and his watercolour illustration of the Snakes Head Fritillary (1915) at Walberswick, Norfolk as shown below is perhaps the best known example of his work in this area ......................