All White

The weather remains wet and miserable. We certainly seem to have had more than our fair share of rain over the last week or so and Malcolm and I are once again 'grounded' this morning. So I thought we'd have a look at a couple of pictures from our walks on drier days.
As usual in early summer, the highways and byways are decorated with white flowers of all kinds. Among the more common are those belonging to the Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris).

Clouds of frothy, white umbels were swaying in the breeze on the side of Shipley Hill a few days ago - before the rain set in. These common wild flowers have become very popular as garden plants over recent years and it's not difficult to see why. They are extremely popular with the insects too.

Another common summer flower is the Guelder-rose (Viburnum opulus).

This shrub grows to about 12 feet high if given the chance, the flowers are produced not in umbels like the Cow Parsley, but in Corymbs, which is a fancy name for a flat-topped panicle. So that's clear! Whatever they are called, the flower heads are quite beautiful.

Lastly for today, some pictures of the white flowers of the Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna).

A member of the rose family, the strong scent of thousands of Hawthorn flowers fills the air when the sun shines on them.

As the flowers age, they can turn from milky-white to pale pink before the petals fall. At every stage, they look spectacular.

That's it. Now we just need this rain to stop so we can get out again and see what's left of the flowers of early summer.