Mountain Avens

Today's the day ....................... to liberate the rockery

I can see the rockery out of my kitchen window when I am washing up in the sink - and lately it's been a pretty depressing sight because it has been completely taken over by violets. That sounds nice I know, but believe me those violets are on a mission to take over the world. It was a big mistake the day I planted a cutting from my cousin Bob - not that he didn't warn me it would happen ............

Anyway, today I set to and hoicked as much of them out as I could, to give the likes of this beautiful little plant a fighting chance of survival. Not that it probably needed much help - because it has to fight for itself in the wild, being a native of arctic-alpine areas. Its latin name is Dryas octopetala . This derives from the Greek octo (eight) and petalon (petal), referring to the eight petals of the flower, an unusual number in the Rosaceae, where five is the normal number.

Oops - this one seems to have ............... nine