Late Summer Flowers

A sunny morning today found Malcolm and I taking our walk along the trail to Mapperley Village. The paths are lined by a plethora of late summer flowers of varying size, shape and colour. among the smallest are the Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea). The tiny pink flowers showing up in contrast to the yellow of Perforate st. John's-Wort and Birdsfoot Trefoil.

Growing tall among these plants, the large flowers of Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) are a paler yellow and a naturalised species brought o the UK in the 1600's.

In the damper areas and beside the reservoirs and waterways, the pink, feathery flowers of the Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) are always a good sign that summer is coming to an end. A strange-looking flower, but very popular with the bees and hoverflies.

The warm sunshine brings out the scent of another late summer favourite. Walking along by the old Nutbrook Canal, the frothy flower heads of Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) fill the air with a heady perfume which is why they were once used as a 'strewing herb.'

The flowers would be picked and sprinkled among the rushes on the floors of houses to fragrance the air. A sort of Medieval 'Shake n Vac.'