Home Turf

Back home again, it's time to re-focus on those little beauties to be found on our doorstep. Shipley Park is - despite the unusually cool Spring - looking green and flowery. Among the most numerous of the flowers have to be the Buttercups, thousands of which are carpeting the fields at the moment.

This particular 'field of cloth-of-gold' is part of the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's management scheme and is jaw-droppingly golden.

The Hawthorne is all but finished now, but the branches have been laden with frothy, white (and sometimes pink) flowers.

Among the Buttercups, another flower is trying bravely to be seen through all the gold. These are the familiar pink flowers of the Red Campion (Silene dioica).

More colour is achieved by the small red flowers of the Sheep's Sorrel (Rumex acetosella), especially when seen against the yellow and orange flowers of Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).

Part of the Dock family, Sheep's Sorrel is common, but easily overlooked, but rewards closer inspection when in flower. Bird's-foot Trefoil - a Pea by any other name - is sometimes known as Eggs and Bacon because of it's flowers being of two different colours on the same plant.

All very colourful.

Last of Edinburgh

It's time to bring the Edinburgh pictures to a close, but to finish with, just a few odds and ends from our short stay. Our visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens was a highlight for us both. Despite the very windy conditions we experienced during our first visit, the gardens were beautiful.

Not all the plants on display were recognisably plant-like. This fossilised tree trunk was a big feature outside the glasshouses.

Some of the living plants were somewhat odd to look at too.

But all were beautiful, both inside...

and out.

There were well manicured lawns with banks of rockery with footpaths up them...

And a well manicured Malcolm, taking it all in!

Inside the glasshouses, different 'zones' had displays of very different plants. The dry zone or 'Arid Lands' section was full of cacti as you would expect.

Leaving the gardens behind, the views across Holyrood Park and the Palace below, is always worth another look.

So that's about it for Edinburgh.  The next few days will bring us back to our local environment and some of the things which seem to have been neglected while our Edinburgh trip has taken centre stage.  So, keep watching..!

Vibrant Colours

Some of the flowers of the Botanic Gardens, were so vibrantly coloured, you wondered if they could be real. The most startling of these had to be the Mecanopsis or Blue Poppy.

With a little sun on them, their bright blue petals seemed almost to be made of coloured tissue paper.

Some of the Primulas formed brightly coloured swathes of blooms in the damp ground close to the water courses of the garden.

Of course, the Rhododendrons and Azaleas provided plenty of colour too. This peachy-pink one was especially gorgeous.

Back inside the glasshouses and the flowers were every bit as vibrant and in some cases, even more so than those out in the open air. Here, an extraordinarily bright red Passiflora (Passiflora vitifolia), a native of Hawaii and Central and South America, easily caught the eye.

As always, some of the best colour came from the myriad different species of Ginger plant. Striking not only for their colour, but also the different ways the flowers are borne on the plants. Some rather conventionally open at the end of the stems, held above the leaves...

Others seem to open from swollen roots or underground stems...

bursting from the ground at the bottom of the plant.

But all of them exquisitely colourful and exotic.

Waters

Among the gardens of the Royal Botanic Gardens, water features really are a 'feature'. Outside, several streams trickle their way through the plants.

In a few parts of the gardens, the sound of rushing water is heard long before you find the streams and the moisture-loving plants which grow beside them.

Despite the windy weather, a few of the ponds were well sheltered by the surrounding trees.

More sheltered still were the ponds inside the glasshouses. Here too, lily pads were in evidence, but here, they were somewhat larger...

These Giant Water Lilies (Victoria amazonica) were quite spectacular, as were the smaller, but equally beautiful yellow and white flowered Nymphaea lilies.

Leaving the botanic gardens behind, we took a lovely afternoon stroll along the Water of Leith, the main river which runs through Edinburgh, starting at Dean Village.

At this point, someone had spent some time creating these strange, balanced stone sculptures in the water. It was all quite impressive...

and here's Malcolm enjoying the walk too..!

Glasshouses

Returning to the Botanic Gardens on Wednesday, we were glad to find that the glasshouses were open once more following Tuesday's high winds. The Palm house which doubles as the entrance to the glasshouse complex, is one of the tallest in the world at 23 metres high and a magnificent structure it is too.

It is a traditional, Victorian Temperate Palm House, built in 1834.

Inside, the palms reach the glass ceiling, making you wonder what next for them?

From the temperate palm house, we passed into the tropical palms and then to the Orchids and Cycads. The orchids were - as you would expect - quite wonderful.

Every shape and size of flower was there.

And the colours were magnificent...

and in some cases, startlingly vibrant.

It was all beautiful and rather hot!

Yet more tomorrow...

Botanic Gardens

One of the things we'd promised ourselves while in Edinburgh, was a tip to the Royal Botanic Gardens.  Founded in the 17th century as a physic garden, it is now a world-renowned scientific and educational garden is several parts. On Tuesday, morning, we braved the high winds and set off for a walk around the outside gardens, the glasshouses being closed due to those aforementioned winds. The Rhododendrons were the first things to attract the attention.

As usual, they came in all colours,

shapes...

and sizes.

Moving on from the Rhododendrons, one of our favourite parts of the outdoor gardens, were the extensive alpine beds.

These too were colourful and despite the windy weather, these hardy little plants were doing their best to stand up to it all. This delicate-looking Calceolaria seemed to be having a hard time of it.

In Switzerland a few weeks ago, we didn't manage to see any Edelweiss, but we certainly did in Edinburgh.  Typical!

There will be much more from the Gardens tomorrow..

More Edinburgh

Wednesday saw us - as I said it would - taking a walk around Holyrood Park and the imposing lump of rock which is Arthur's Seat.  Holyrood is a royal park, formerly a royal hunting park belonging to Holyroodhouse, dating back to the 12th century.
Queen's Drive is a road and walkway which runs around the park, taking in several view points on its way. Here, we got a fine view across Dunsapie Loch, looking north-east towards the sea in the distance.

From the northern side of the park and standing with your back to Salisbury Crags, you get some nice views across the city towards Holyroodhouse itself and the Scottish parliament building.

Zooming in a bit, the palace looms out of the surrounding trees, with the remains of Holyrood Abbey in the grounds beyond.

Further beyond the parliament building, Carlton Hill dominates the skyline with its monuments, gallery and scientific buildings sticking up from the top. In front, the columns of the now misnamed, 'New' Parliament House dominate the lower slopes of Carlton Hill.

Back down the hill to Holyroodhouse itself and we pressed our noses to the gates for a better view of the frontage of the palace from the North wing with abbey ruins peeking out to the left...

to the South wing and a magnificent water feature in front...

To a wider panorama of the whole frontage.

Still more to come...