the running wave

As we lurch towards June, the sun may be hot but we have had very strong winds in the past week, which have played havoc with the lilac and hawthorn blossom outside the garden, also the air is cold.  In addition, we have had a lot of rain over the past few days, so everything has taken a bit of a bashing!  However, there are still some pretty things going on in the flowerbed, the bumblebees are buzzing very happily on the flowers of the little rowan tree and the life of the garden is moving forward! And the outer garden - The plant below is a self-seeded teasel.  To be honest, with its prickly leaf spine, it looks more like something I have seen in the botanical gardens in Melbourne!   Going up the plant, there is a series of small swimming pools, where last night's rain has gathered where the leaves join the stem! In my garden notes post of 22 March ( https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2019/03/garden-notes-22-march-201...

The new experience of coming across crimson clover, or Italian clover, Trifolium incarnatum , last week inspired my vase for this week.  If you have not seen this gorgeous coloured clover before, have a look at my post following our walk last Wednesday. Joining the crimson clover in my jam jar vase is red campion, hairy vetch, beautiful lacy cow parsley and the pale pink wine-tipped flowers of common fumitory, Fumaria officinalis .  Fumitory is an interesting little plant, bearing in mind its very quiet colour and habit.  There is a good entry about it on Wikipedia which is worth a read.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumaria_officinalis  - it was first written about two thousand years ago by Pliny!

The grand finale to the beekeeping course I did in early Spring was to inspect a hive and see the bees in action.  The weather and everyone's diaries delayed the get together until today, when I and one other from the course were introduced to the hives on the edge of Lennoxlove Estate, near Haddington.  I managed to be stung, but at least I know now that I don't have a disastrous reaction to bees, so that's a comfort! And lucky us!  We were given a piece of freshly cut comb!  George said "Go home and eat it while it is still warm from the hive."  I needed no second bidding. And lucky us!  We were given a piece of freshly cut comb!  George said "Go home and eat it while it is still warm from the hive."  I needed no second bidding.

Crimson clover, or Italian clover, Trifolium incarnate, is new to me!  I had never seen it before until we walked into a field at the start of a walk yesterday, and dotted through the grasses along the field margin was a scattering of wine red flower spikes.  Immediately captivated, I went a bit overboard on photographing the flower and identified it once we were home.  It is a plant used for green manure, but before it reaches that stage it is a very handsome wild flower!