Remembrance Day

At the end of August this year, poppies at the edge of a field of potatoes in Lower Largo.

Fields of Blue

Sting sang about 'Fields of Gold' but it was the intense lavender blue colour in the field adjacent to the Serpentine Walk that caught my attention.

When I got closer I realised that it wasn't lavender but phacelia. It is a useful plant in agriculture because it is a green manure. Once the flowers and foliage die back they are ploughed into the soil and act as a fertiliser. Phacelia can also be planted in strips at the edge of a field as it attracts bees, hoverflies and other pollinators essential for a good crop.

Close up of the flower (Phacelia tanacetifolia)

At the edge of the field there were also other wild flowers, poppies, ox-eye daisies and shepherds purse to name but a few.

Looking down  from the road at Upper Largo across the fields to the coast of East Lothian on the opposite side of the Forth. Can just see North Berwick Law.

A Colourful Bank of Poppies

A colourful bank of oriental poppies (Papaver orientale)  at the side of the road leading to Lundin Golf Club.

Remembrance Sunday

Wild Flower Field Edge

So good to see wild flowers edging the field which borders the Serpentine Walk.

Mostly white daisies and red poppies but also spotted groundsel, ground ivy, pineapple weed and tiny blue forgetmenots.

 

I think the white daisies are scentless mayweed (Matricaria maritima)

At the Crossroads

The Largo Parish War Memorial stands at the crossroads that links Upper Largo to the east, Lower Largo to the south and Lundin Links to the west, thus representing all parts of the Parish. It is in the form of a Celtic cross and was designed by Sir Robert Lorimer who was also the architect of the mightily impressive Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle. There are 53 names inscribed from the First and 16 from the Second World War. Amongst those from the First World War there are four brothers. As with so many at that time one family's future generations lost.

The information about  the memorial was obtained from the book of photographs of the Sea Toun of Largo compiled by Ivy Jardine. It is out of print but I was able to borrow a copy from the library.

Oriental Poppy Flower Opening

The large flower bud of an oriental poppy.
Most flowers open too slowly to catch on film without a time-lapse camera, however, early in the morning can almost watch and see the flower bud of an oriental poppy open in real time.

The flower begins to open pushing  off the covering.

Nearly gone!

The fully open flower.

The flowers don't last long and within a day or two, the petals drop leaving the seed capsule.

A colourful stand of oriental poppies on the banking at the east side of the harbour in Lower Largo.

Fife Diamond Garden Festival - Day 2

Blue poppies (Meconopsis Sp.) at Strathmore Cottage, Drumeldrie.

Last weekend there were 12 gardens open for the Fife Diamond Garden Festival. They were all open to raise money for charity. Only managed to visit half of them. Saturday morning walked along the disused railway line and then up the track between the fields to Strathmore Cottage at Drumeldrie, which is just east of Upper Largo. A lovely cottage garden covering a wide area, with lots of interconnecting parts.

Mixed coloured Meconopsis.

A quirky wooden sculpture.

Tesses House and Garden.

In the afternoon drove to Teasses which is on the road to Ceres from Largo. The weather had improved and things were drying out, however, still managed to get stuck entering the carpark and had to be towed up the hill.

  

 

 

Bluebell wood at Teasses.

 The pond at Teasses.

The ravine garden.

Flowers in Abundance

A field strip of poppies in Upper Largo.

A flowery glade of buttercups and red campion in the Serpentine Walk.

Welsh Poppy

Welsh Poppy - Meconopsis cambrica

The bees love these Welsh poppies. They have nice open flowers with lots of pollen. Can see this bee's pollen sac very clearly. In some ways the Welsh poppies are a nuisance, seeding themselves everywhere, but they brighten up the garden and are obviously a good nectar plant. They have different seed pods to the red poppies, the seeds escaping from the ridges at the side, rather than the top of the seed capsule

A Bank of Poppies

A colourful bank of oriental poppies at the side of the road up to Lundin Golf Club.