Scottish Wildflowers

[mookien]

Mine is the Scottish heather. I love the purple hue and the tartans that bear it.

In the New Mexico mountains there grows a wildflower that I call "heather". It blooms in late summer and early fall. I considered taking a picture of a swathe of it and posting it, but I did not. One of life's little regrets, Bugbear. Maybe next year.

[Pleater]

The hare bell - or Scottish bluebell is second only to the English bluebell for me.

The hare bell grows on heathland and the bluebell in woodland, but both of them seem to form a blue mist over the ground so that from a distance it is hard to make out the source of the colour.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Bugbear]

Pleater, we have a "Desert Blue Bell" (Phacelia campanularia) out here in the Southwest, and I am planning on sowing seeds. They used to grow in my grandmother's backyard, usually as a single plant rather than a patch. The reproductive parts of the flowers are yellow, and complement the blue petals in a very pretty way. Other than that, it looks like a scraggly, ugly desert weed.

Butterflies do feed on their nectar, and that is a good enough reason for planting them in my garden, but I would also like them there as a symbolic reminder of sorts.

[ThistleDown]

Wild garlic in North Fife

[tulloch]

I would have to say Heather and Thistle really stand out for me and I have always loved them. A quick look at the tartan register shows fashion, corporate and personal tartans incorporating those flower names. Some are pretty.

ThistleDown - that plant, based on your photo, looks like our Milk Weed. They grow pods shaped like bagpipe bags and when burst open they fly on the breeze.

[Paul Henry]

snip.....
ThistleDown - that plant, based on your photo, looks like our Milk Weed. They grow pods shaped like bagpipe bags and when burst open they fly on the breeze.

I don't think it's the same thing,it's also known as ransoms, (Alium ursinum) wonderful leaves , cooked with butter and pasta, and when disturbed in the open a very strong garlic smell, and spreads like a weed over here!

[tulloch]

Or could they be the seeds of the Thistle? Well, pretty in any event.

[Bugbear]

I don't think it's the same thing,it's also known as ransoms, (Alium ursinum) wonderful leaves , cooked with butter and pasta, and when disturbed in the open a very strong garlic smell, and spreads like a weed over here!

I looked it up, and it may be a bit of a pun by ThistleDown, as well. Here's a Wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsons

[be da veva]

I'd have to say heatheralso. Plus, Rex Tremende designed a tartan with this flower in mind and called it Heatherfield. I have a swatch of it and it is gorgeous..... Hoping it'll be my next kilt.

[ThistleDown]

I don't think it's the same thing,it's also known as ransoms, (Alium ursinum) wonderful leaves , cooked with butter and pasta, and when disturbed in the open a very strong garlic smell, and spreads like a weed over here!

That would be raMsons, Paulhenry. There's a tucked-away field on the banks of the Tay near Wormit in Fife where it's an absolute pleasure to shuffle along in contemplation in early summer. And then to collect leaves for your tea I wilt it with a toss of hot butter, but with pasta sounds great. The roots are good gently roasted, too.