The East Dumbartonshire Council on the East side of Glasgow have been planting small open spaces like roundabouts, bits of verge at junctions and the like with wild flowers. It's lovely to look at and great for the environment. The insects love them. I stopped with CJ and Anna in Lennoxtown at the foot of the Campsie Fells on our way back from an enjoyable lunch in the
Courtyard Café in Fintry up in the Fells.
Here are some of the photos from that brief encounter:
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| A small view from above |
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| A bumble bee getting close and polleny |
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| A bee on a cornflower |
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| Linum grandiflorum, Red flax |
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| Painted Daisy, Ismelia carinata |
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| Marmalade Hoverfly above Painted Daisy, Ismelia carinata |
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| Hoverfly (Scaeva selenitica ?) on Cornflower |
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| Greenbottle on Cornflower |
Awsome pictures!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Duta.
DeleteJust beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jules.
DeleteLovely photos GB. Do you still use a 'real' camera or have you succumbed to using your smart phone as Dad and I seem to have?
ReplyDeleteHelen, you would hardly believe it but I have by Pentax DSLR with a myriad of lenses always at the ready but less and less do I carry it in the car. I do have a Canon bridge camera which lives in the car for those occasions when I come across something like an eagle and need the 600 lens capability. However the rest of the time I find that my iPhone XS Max has a splendid camera and I always have it with me. All the above photos were taken on my phone.
DeleteGorgeous colours.
ReplyDeleteYes, JayCee, nature provides spectacular colours.
DeleteHow divine! And enlightened of the council, too.
ReplyDeleteYes, Pipistrello, the Council has achieved something really significant in my view.
DeleteThis is a very economic way to beautify roadways.
ReplyDeleteIt is, indeed, Red.
DeleteStunningly beautiful! The wonder of Mother Nature holds us in awe.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, Lee.
DeleteEveryone else has already said it, but I'll add my exclamation of "Gorgeous!" to the choir, as it really IS all so wonderful and beautiful. The world needs many more places like that.
ReplyDeleteMeike, it does and it's a shame that so many such places have been lost to modern agriculture so that they have to be replaced 'artificially.
DeleteThat is a great idea to beautify the city with wild flowers. Your photos are beautiful . Great insect shots.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Diane, that it's a great idea. Thanks for the compliment about the shots.
DeleteIt's a grand idea. They have been doing it around St. Andrew's for a year or two and I notice it's spread to Cupar.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to hear, Adrian.
DeleteWe've been doing without lawns for years & have grass paths curving/meandering through our gardens and around the perimeters. It's been incredibly wonderful with many, many butterflies, birds, and bees coming to visit. I'm happy to hear that the Council is beautifying with wildflowers. Absolutely gorgeous photos. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment, Regina. By "we've" do you mean you or your local area in general? Which country are you in?
DeleteGorgeous photos!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Maywyn.
DeleteVery simple and very effective and keeps the people happy.
ReplyDeleteIt does indeed happify everyone, Rachel.
DeleteBeautiful photographs.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Robert.
DeleteGood morning from the state of Maine in the U.S. By "we've" I mean my husband (born in Boston) and myself (born in New York). I wish more of the highways here would replace grass that requires mowing, feeding, etc. with wildflowers. President Johnson's wife, Lady Byrd, industriously promoted that concept. We have replaced most grass w/ wildflowers at all the homes we have had: Connecticut, Vermont, and Maine. It's been a lot of fun and is such a lovely improvement.
ReplyDeleteGood to know your whereabouts Regina. You've given me and idea and I shall trial it next spring. My only worry is that living in the wind Hebrides there are lots of native 'weeds' that would love to take over and return the land to it's wilderness state. I . shall give it a go though.
DeleteLovely to hear you will give it a try. The home we are in now was built in a forest at the base of a mini-mountain. It does take about three years to have the wildflower gardens in fine shape. When we buy the seeds, of course, they are specifically for our area in Maine and that helps a great deal. Folks who sell wildflower seeds are always very willing to advise how to go about it. Once you succeed, you will never return. I look forward to hearing how you do next year.
DeleteThanks Regina. I'm excited already. It will take the winter to prepare some ground and the principal problem will be removing all the dormant dominant grass which covers most of the grounds where I am as far as the eye can see. I'm up for the challenge though.
DeleteI absolutely love wild flowers, so much colour - sometimes in Summer we occasionally see them lining the motorways and they are so refreshing.
ReplyDeleteSo do I, Amy. I'm going to see if I can keep the native weeds at bay and grow wild flowers in part of my garden next year.
DeleteThe colours of summer and I imagine they are accompanied by the sounds of summer with all those bees and insects milling around. Great photos!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pauline. There was plenty of colours and buzzyness around. I loved it.
DeleteCool pictures dude! I especially liked "Marmalade Hoverfly above Painted Daisy, Ismelia carinata". Ismelia Carinata sounds like an opera singer. It's never over till that fat lady sings!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Neil. You are absolutely correct about Ismelia Carinata. I shall start talking about her and look askanse when friends don't know her latest recording which has been so widely acclaimed.
DeleteIt is rumoured that she had a love child called Dennis with the famous Skelmersdale tenor - Linum Grandiflorum.
Deletelovelee to see
ReplyDeleteThank you, Andrea.
DeleteGood to hear you are up for the challenge. The most difficult part is getting rid of the grass and/or weeds which is why it takes about three years to really have it looking terrific. I did a brief search online and see that there is a firm in Scotland called "Scotia Seeds" which sells Scotland wildflower seeds. Amazon.com popped up as well. That was a fun surprise to me. I will have to order some Scottish seeds from them for my garden as an experiment.
ReplyDeleteRegina, it's going to be an interesting and challenging 3 years I think.
Delete