The Carpet of the Highlands

Scotland not only is famous for the thistle but also for its wild highland heather - Calluna vulgaris.  Calluna from the Greek ‘Kallune’ meaning to clean or brush as the twigs were used for making brooms and vulgaris from Latin, meaning common.  It's very hardy  and each plant has a life expectancy of about 40-50 years.   The plant also very resilient to the grazing from the roe deer, reindeer, rabbits, mountain hares, grouse, and cattle along with being  the most favourite habitat of the infamous Scottish midge Culicoides Impuctatus. 

Heather growing along the Pinewoods of Glen Quoich

The best time of year to see the heather in bloom is at the end of August and the first few weeks of September but normally you have to go well off the beaten track to see it at its finest.  It carpets the highland landscape and can range in colours from lilac to purple.  

"No' a flow'r that man can gather. ...can beat the bonnie, bloomin' heather"

 
Our 16yr old  spent last weekend in the remoteness and emptiness of the Eastern Cairngorm mountains for his silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition and I asked him to take some photos so that I could share them here on leavesnbloom.  (These were all taken on an ipod touch until the battery expired).

“Land of the hill and heather, Land of the awful weather, Land where the midges gather - Scotland the brave”

Their mobile phones are taken away from them once the expedition commences  and parents have no contact over the whole weekend unless there is an emergency. They spent the long weekend camping outside Braemar along Glen Quoich and hiking to the summit of Creag Bhalg.  The area is in Aberdeenshire though it's well to the east from where Alistair blogs from.   

In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. Psalm 95:4

Bathroom facilities are bringing a garden trowel with you, the roll of toilet paper and digging a hole,  drinking water is provided from streams (boiled), cooking is over a campfire and streams have to be crossed on foot. Even though he had to hike  through the thunder and lightning most of Friday, constantly battling with the clouds of blood thirsty Scottish midges especially when they got into the tent and avoiding the ticks he still managed to take some lovely photographs.

No photos of August's camp but this is was the camp on the practice weekend expedition in June

Here's the Itinerary (click on the links to see more information):

• Day 1 - Linn of Dee camping at Derry lodge.

• Day 2 - Glen Quoich via Creag Bhalg (668m Graham).

• Day 3 - Walk to Invercauld Bridge and a to visit Braemar Castle on Royal Deeside.

The views from the Graham Creag Bhalg over the Cairngorm mountains which soon will be covered in snow.

What's a Graham?............The Munros are the highest of Scotland's mountains, 283 mountain tops named after the man who first catalogued them, Sir Hugh Munro and they are among the finest mountains in Scotland.  The Corbetts are the equivalent mountains, 221 in total with altitudes between 2500ft and 3000ft and the Grahams, 224 in total are between 2000ft and 2500ft. Whilst smaller in stature many Corbetts and Grahams rival Munros for walking and climbing. 

Well on Sunday evening he finally arrived home with just a few blisters, tired, hungry and with lots of tales to tell.   He checked for ticks on his clothes and then sat down to a very late Sunday dinner.  The kit then got washed and whatever I managed to get into that wash it turned every thing a blue colour.  It wasn't heather dye but 1 pair of trousers that was the culprit!

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related blog post
Meet the only herd of Reindeer in Britain

useful external links

Heather

The legendary flower of Scotland
The Scottish Midge Forecast

"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

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© 2009- 2011 Leavesnbloom ~ All Rights Reserved.

Scotland's Natural Beauty for Wildflower Wednesday

I'm celebrating Scotland's natural beauty today for Wildflower Wednesday. For the earlier part of August the surrounding countryside here in Perthshire has been painted with a lush display of wildflowers and the hum of bees has never been far away.  Now as August ebbs away thistledown and the cottony seedheads from Rosebay willow herb blow through the air in a quest to find somewhere new to settle.   Blackberries are ripening and turning from claret to juicy black while there are reddish hues appearing on the hawthorn berries and rosehips.  Here's a selection of  some of our August wildflowers taken from my favourite wild and unspoilt places where I feel so close to God................

Chamerion angustifolium

It wouldn't be a scene from Scotland without the spires of purple pink Rosebay willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium) which dominate the landscape with its clumps  that stretch for metres.

Centaurea nigra

Along with liberally interspersed drifts of the thistle like flowers from the Common Knapweed  (Centaurea nigra) and Creeping thistles (Cirsium vulgare).

Cirsium vulgare

Myosotis laxa,Persicaria maculosa and Tripleurospermum inodorum

Blue tufted  Forget-me-nots (Myosotis laxa), Redshank (Persicaria maculosa) and drifts of Scentless Mayweed daisy flowers (Tripleurospermum inodorum) weave their way along the edges the fields of gold.

Colourful wild lupins (Lupinus perennis) paint a rainbow of colour along the hedgerows,

Meconopsis cambrica var aurantiaca 

along with little splashes of orange from the delicate looking poppies (Meconopsis cambrica var aurantiaca).  

While in my own garden this year I introduced a few rich nectar biennial  Teasel plants (Dipsacus fullonum).  Hopefully as their offspring colonize over the years they will look very architectural with their sharp spines and prickly leaves next to the Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' at the back of the border. 

Do you have a favourite spot outdoors?

For more wildflowers and natives this Wildflower Wednesday please visit Gail at Clay and Limestone.

This is a copyright post written for www.leavesnbloom.blogspot.com. If this is your first visit to www. leavesnbloom.blogspot.com you might want to take a second to subscribe to my RSS Feed, http://feeds.feedburner.com/LeavesnBloom 

and   my blog so you can stay updated on posts and information! 

"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

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© 2009- 2011 Leavesnbloom ~ All Rights Reserved.

What's blooming in your garden?

It's August time again and the garden has already started on it's autumnal journey.  The leaves on the Amelanchier alnifolia 'Obelisk' ® have started to turn to burnished gold, berries are dripping red from the Sorbus vilmorinii  and Berberis thunbergii f. atropurpurea 'Rose Glow'.  Little green crab apples are forming on the Malus 'Red Sentinel' while small inedible pears are forming on the Pyrus salicifolia 'Pendula'. But I'll leave those for another post as today it's all about the flowers.

Large photos: Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' with Potentilla fruticosa 'Red Ace' in the background.
Lavendula angustifolia 'Hidcote' with yellow and red Hemerocallis (Artic Ice and Crimson Pirate) in the background
Smaller photos top to bottom:  Eryngium planum 'Blue Hobbit', Hemerocallis 'Pink Damask', Geranium 'Rozanne', Clematis viticella 'Venosa Violacea' growing along a yellow Potentilla hedge.

Wildlife sightings in the garden have been few and far between this year which is disappointing.  Few butterflies have been visiting and I haven't even seen a ladybird/bug in the garden.  Come to think of it I've only seen two ladybirds all year while out walking.  I'm an organic gardener so I suspect that our awful weather in late spring has affected their numbers.

Large photos: Spiraea shirobana 'Josephs Coat'.
and Eryngium bourgatii 'Picos Blue'
Small photos top to bottom: Prunella vulgaris, Diascia, Stachys lanata, and Allium schoenoprasum.

The weather has as usual been very wet dispersed with a few days with lovely sunshine - but not enough of them in my opinion!  I had to laugh when I read last years GBBD post for August as I was complaining about  a wet cool summer there aswell.  

Large photos: Carlina acaulis (you can read about this plant here)
Smaller photos top to bottom: Thymus, Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight', Oestospermum.

Slugs and snails don't seem to be a problem as there are about 20 adult newts somewhere I hope in the back garden along with a baby toad. They seem to be doing a great job at keeping the pest populations under control.  

Below is a set of photos from my problem area - a border that I have lost so many plants over the years.   I grow late flowering Clematis in a dryer part of the ground and train the stems to wander over by the wet area to give me a little more vertical colour at this time of year.  It's a hard part of the garden to look good at this time of year and if I had known years ago of how bad the water table was I would have built high raised beds up against the fence......... but in those early days of the garden we were not getting the same wet weather.

Large photos: Hostas and Lysimachia punctata - seriously don't grow this plant - it's horrific and I can't get rid of it now.  I've just had to embrace the plant and try to keep it within bounds.
Smaller photos:  Lysimachia ciliata 'Firecracker', Leucanthemum (slightly dryer conditions where they grow),  Clematis viticella 'Etoile Violette' and a lost label Clematis , Lythrum salicaria. 

I wish Scottish weather was kinder to the daylillies as I have 2 varieties that are not in flower this year - 'Prairie Night' and  'Strawberry Candy' (I forgot to add a photo of 'Artic Ice' to this set)

Large Photos: Hemerocallis 'Pink Damask', and Hemerocallis 'Moonlit Masquerade'
Smaller Photos top to bottom: Hemerocallis 'Bonanza' and Hemerocallis 'Crimson Pirate'.

This is one of the views from the kitchen window.

Large photo: Buddleja (golden leafed variety - lost label), geraniums and potentilla. 
Smaller photos: Astrantia - self seeded from next door's garden and a little herb who's name I've forgotten.

Large photo:Sedum telephium (Atropurpureum Group) 'Purple Emperor'.
Smaller photos top to bottom: Crocosmia 'lucifer' and a standard flowering carpet rose.

I've plenty of daisies in the garden aswell (click here to go to a post all about these Anthemis daisies ...... especially if you are interested in photography!)

Phew........... that's all for GBBD for another month -  make sure you pop over to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for more flowers from around the world (linky will be up on Monday 15th).

related posts

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day August 2010

GBBD posts on Leavesnbloom

This is a copyright post written for www.leavesnbloom.blogspot.com. If this is your first visit to www. leavesnbloom.blogspot.com you might want to take a second to subscribe to my RSS Feed, http://feeds.feedburner.com/LeavesnBloom 

and   my blog so you can stay updated on posts and information! 

"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

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© 2009- 2011 Leavesnbloom ~ All Rights Reserved.

Lazy daisy days

Anthemis tinctoria "Hollandaise sauce" is a favourite herbaceous perennial plant of mine. Three large clumps  of feathery aromatic foliage grow together in my front garden in an east westerly aspect. Tall wirey stems arise from those clumps and most of the summer the daisies are in bloom.  In August the syrphid flies flock to the flowers and as you move the stems a little cloud of flies rise above the petals. 

There's so much I love about this little charming little chamomile flower so I decided do a little musing about it ........

"Lazy Daisy Days"
  So cultivated and cultured at the beginning of summer,

Anthemis tinctoria "Hollandaise sauce"

with soft mounds of filigree aromatic foliage and tall stems of creamy white petals.

While by August the've been tossed by the elements and sun beaten...... now petals and stems are less restrained.

Gracefully bending and intertwining,

some more modest than others,

like little miniature suns all a glow at sunset.

If you too would like to grow  Anthemis tinctoria "Hollandaise sauce" and want some of those lazy daisy summer days in your garden here's what they require........ 

• They  love growing in full sun.
• Flower from late June to mid August here in Scotland.
• They are drought tolerant and hardy.
• Like a well drained position in good loamy soil. 
• They are short lived in heavy soil.
• Clump forming with aromatic leaves.
• Height in flower approx 0.5 metres.
• May require staking........ they flop naturally in my garden! 
• Not liked by deer.

For those of you interested in photography have you read Scott's great article on why you need a polarizer? "A Polarized Garden"   It was another piece of kit I'd been thinking of buying but unsure about. When I saw his with and without polarizer shots he convinced me that I could really do with one of these!

This is a copyright post written for www.leavesnbloom.blogspot.com. If this is your first visit to www. leavesnbloom.blogspot.com you might want to take a second to subscribe to my RSS Feed, http://feeds.feedburner.com/LeavesnBloom 

and   my blog so you can stay updated on posts and information! 

"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

.

© 2009- 2011 Leavesnbloom ~ All Rights Reserved.

Have you made a Butterfly Puddle?

Butterflies I think must be one of the most elusive insects for me to photograph in the garden especially this summer.  The UK Butterfly count is still going on and each day I try put aside 15 minutes and go outside with a cuppa to watch for them......... weather permitting!  I normally only see a couple of small whites but their visits are normally very fleeting and impossible to photograph.  Last year my fluttering garden visitors  were Painted Ladies, Red Admirals, Peacocks, Small and Large Whites and Small tortoiseshells.  This year though I'm slightly  concerned as I've hardly seen any of these even away from the garden.  I can only imagine that our bad weather earlier in the season has affected their numbers quite significantly.


By the way if you're reading this in the UK there's still time to participate in the count as it was extended due to the first week being so poor weather wise.  Today I counted no butterflies in the garden but I'll still be sending in this zero sighting  as these ones are just as important to the researchers.


We all know that butterflies need nectar to survive but they also require minerals, salts and some water.  If you've ever been to a butterfly house you'll know that it gets awfully hot and sticky in there.  But did you notice that the longer you stayed in there the more attractive you became to the butterflies and more and more of them flew closer towards you?  It's the salt from our sweat that attracted them and I must say I was much amused by their interest in me.

Photo taken summer 2010:  Large White Pieris brassicae with a dusting of yellow on the underside of the wings

"Oh Sweet Nectar
Gives Me a Burst
Occasionally tho
I'm Dying Of Thirst"
~Unknown

Well last year after having had that experience at Butterfly World down in Edinburgh I decided to make a butterfly puddle in the garden but there's a caveat here for anyone in Scotland ..........don't get excited by this as you'll soon find out.


How to Make a Butterfly Puddle

• You need a large shallow bowl about 16 - 20 inches in diameter which you fill with sand.
• Then you add water to make the sand nice and moist (you must keep the sand damp at all times).
• Dig a hole so that the top of the bowl is flush with the soil  (the water isn't as fast to evaporate this way)
• Add about a tablespoonful of well composted manure/chicken manure/ mushroom compost/stale beer.
• Also add a teaspoonful of salt as it encourages male butterflies as the salt is said to enhance their libido.
• Add a few stones and a few shells so that the  butterflies can sunbathe.
• Lastly a few slices of chopped up banana left to ferment as the butterflies prefer it that way (other fruits like apple or pear also work).

Well truth be told........ it was totally unsuccessful last year here in central Scotland and I ended up with wasps being attracted to the fermenting fruit rather than butterflies. Then there was our wet summer which made sure that the bowl was waterlogged most of the time.  Now if you live in a warmer dryer climate don't let this put you off.  You might want to seriously consider making one of these puddles as  they seem to be very successful in the USA but alas not in my garden!

Photo taken summer 2010: Large White - common name Cabbage White

If anyone has ever tried to make one of these butterfly puddles please let me know  especially if you've written a blog post about it as I would love to place a link to it here to share with my readers.

Related Posts

Taking the Pulse of Nature

Monitoring the Health and Well Being in Nature

This is a copyright post written for www.leavesnbloom.blogspot.com. If this is your first visit to www. leavesnbloom.blogspot.com you might want to take a second to subscribe to my RSS Feed, http://feeds.feedburner.com/LeavesnBloom 

and   my blog so you can stay updated on posts and information! 

"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

.

© 2009- 2011 Leavesnbloom ~ All Rights Reserved.