Scottish Wildflowers

[BoldHighlander]

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

While the purple heather is a favourite (& Clan Donald plant badge) I also like the white heather, which is the plant badge for my Macdonells of Keppoch and of Glengarry.

a picture of one such white heather I planted (taken in 2009):


White Heather: An Old Celtic Tale

The story of the white heather is an old, old tale and a sad one. The Celtic Bard Ossian had a daughter, Malvina, who was as fair as the dawn and gentle as the dew. She was betrothed to Oscar, a warrior as gallant as he was handsome. Though he had wandered far in search of fame and beauty, no one held chief place in his heart save Malvina the fair.

Once in the glory of autumn, Malvina and her father were sitting on the moor's edge talking of Oscar's return from some warlike expedition. Over the heather came limping to them a ragged messenger. Wounded and weary, he knelt before them. Holding ut a spray of purple heather to Malvina, he told her that ti came from Oscar as a last token of his love for he was slain in battle and his henchmen had barely escaped to bring the news.

As Malvina listened, her tears fell on the purple heather which immediately became white.

Ossian made mournful music for his daughter's dead lover, and, as they wandered over the moors, her tears often fell upon the clumps of purple heather which immediately turned white. Then, even in the bitterness of her own sorrow, wishing the others may be happier than she, Malvina said, "Although it is the symbol of my sorrow, may the white heather bring good fortune to all who find it."

~ Author unknown.

from:Symbols_MacDonell_Keppoch/White_heather

[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!

[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

[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.

[tulloch]

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

[ThistleDown]

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

Not sure which pic you are referring to, Tulloch. One of the ones I posted is the seed carrier of the milk thistle and I posted it as a play on my "name".

[ThistleDown]

This isn't my photo, but its of the "twinflower" found all over Inverness-shire, Nairnshire and Easter Ross.