North Fife 27th July

Storm Clouds forming over The River Tay from Newburgh North Fife. Lately although very warm, the actual full sunlight hours have been half of the potential. Winds coming off points East bringing a haar that also  reduces sunlight dramatically.

 

Today there was more sun.  I visited a wee loch not far from Newburgh, nameless and quite hidden. 

Water Lilies. The Loch is bordered with hill to the South, trees and sedge to the North. It lies folded and protected. I love the rich abundance of the vegetation, clean clear water and tranquil nature of the situation. I'm not the first, I was sitting on a long bench seat bearing a plaque "Daves spot" . I can understand why.

I find it really exotic.

 

Maybe here?

Shaped like a lice on the mapped landscape..

Wayside flowers North Fife

Wayside flowers North Fife. A few hundred metres of verge was dug up and turned over when road drainage was installed earlier this year. Bare earth..... then amazingly within 4 or 5 weeks this display revealed itself. Seed lying dormant for goodness knows how many years germinated.

I'm reminded of 19th Century Impressionist painters, say Monet, who included such natural random splashes of colour and texture. This richness has been largely eradicated from farmland though by stealth some get through the herbicides. It seems this year has been particularly good for daisy propagation.

There are quite a few fields with clumps of oxeye daisy, more than I've ever seen before.

Corn Flowers, what a treat.

Opium Poppies

Opium poppies, such beautiful flowers, this pale pink example below is typical.

Occasionally a much darker coloured example shows itself.

These plants have germinated from seed introduced over 25 years ago. There must be a genetic factor that delays germination for some of the many produced. Poppy seeds are stimulated by light after being dormant for a long time plus all the other conditions to induce growth.

More information. on the usefulness of growing.