Oct 9th Lovely plant but what is it?

Out for a walk and came across this lovely specimen but I do not know what it is and neither does my good lady who has the green fingers. Beautiful colours and you cannot see clearly in the picture clusters of dark berries/fruits. Need to get the books out.

Mysterious shrub

Aug 8th Scottish Bluebell or Harebell

I always associate our Scottish Bluebells, or Harebell to give it its proper name or even Campanula rotundifolia for its Sunday name, as a spring plant flowering early and then dying off. However, on my walk today there were still many showing amongst the sand dunes which is a natural home for them. Maybe it is just the woodland version that leaves early, still a nice broadly bell shaped flower.

Scottish Bluebell

Jul 3rd This is what the bees want

I have mentioned in previous posts how many bees we get in the garden. This nice snap shows clearly the large amounts of pollen on the stamen of this flower. Rich pickings indeed.

Pollen

Jun 26th Wild Foxglove Digitalis

Out on my morning walk the wood was illuminated with colour when I turned a corner and this wild foxglove stood tall in a brief burst of sunshine. Although seen in many a garden I always think the wild version has something special. The foxgloves are particularly attractive to bumble bees not just for the nectar but also as a protected place to spend the night.

Wild Foxglove

Jun 20th Cotton grass

The iconic cotton grass is showing well at the moment and I am pleased with this close range snap. Usually found on boggy or upland ground. There are apparently 25 species but they are not grasses at all but sedges.  The fluffy white cotton was once used to stuff pillows.

Cotton Grass

June 10th O Flower of Scotland

There are a few varieties of the Scottish thistle but I am not sure I have come across this one before but it looks a particularly prickly specimen so will fit in well.

Thistle

May 23rd Daisies common or not

It seems that such a common plant is also a relative rarity these days, so much so that it stood out to me as a memory of the year worth preserving. Just after I took the snap the council gardener appeared and cut the grass taking all the daisies with him!!

May 17th Floral path to Glen Dubh

On Arran I was walking into Glen Dubh. The track begins near the Auchrannie Spa resort but quickly you are walking along a beautiful wood path with the flowers blooming either side of you. Even better I soon spotted a golden eagle up the glen, yahoo. 

Floral track to Glen Dubh

May 6th White Bluebells

We always have a good display of bluebells in the garden at this time of year but this year we have rather a lot of white ones. The internet suggests these are relatively rare, the blue pigment not fully developing apparently, well there are plenty here.

White Bluebells

May 2nd Blue is the colour

I thought that I had missed the bluebells flowering this year when we were away in Tenerife but a walk in the woods today revealed a good growth, not quite at their best but nice to see.

Bluebell

Apr 26th Yellow is the colour

The walkway from our apartment through to Los Gigantes around the tennis courts are surrounded by these wonderfully large flowers. In the evenings there is a pleasant scent from them. Inside the stamens look welcoming to an insect but is it the call of death? Sadly my typical lack of knowledge of flowers means its identification remains a secret to me, only its beauty is known.

Apr 24th Poppy field

The colours were bursting out everywhere around us during our walk around Santiago del Teide. Most tourists rarely see the beauty of the rugged wild landscape when it blooms in the mountains at this time of year. Mostly wild and uncultured including herbs, cactus and wild flora like this, a huge field of wild poppies, a fine colourful sight.

Field of poppies

Apr 20th Cactus blooming

The variety of cactus on Tenerife is truly amazing and the flowering plants are so colourful particularly up in the hills. Here is a nice one no idea of variety but pretty.

Flowering cactus