Plant Life

Ajuga

The prompt today on Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood is: plant life. The day proved to be perfect for it because the sun was shining and it was lovely and warm. Penicuik Estate is full of wild flowers and plants and this is the best time of year to see them. The choice of which picture to use for the prompt was very hard but in the end this ajuga or carpet bugle plant won the day because of the light. We have this plant in the garden and it is a real spreader. However the flowers are so gorgeous that I don't mind.

Ferns unfurling

The bluebells are still looking glorious and it's wonderful to hunker down to their level and drown in that fabulous blue.

The day was also rather momentous as for the first time Flora was off her lead for most of our walk there. She did better than I could have imagined in my wildest dreams when she arrived, now almost 6 months ago. She met up with lot of friends including a very handsome whippet boy. He was delightful.

Wild Valerian, apparently used to cure insomnia back in the Middle Ages. We grow it in our garden too This too spreads like wild fire so be warned.

There was other life about than that of plants. When we arrived at the bit of the estate where the path runs through a sheep field Flora had to be lined in but she didn't seem to mind. She is rather taken with the sight of all the little lambs (now larger than she is) and specially their droppings.

More ferns.