Flowers of the field

Early in June buttercups exploded into a mass of golden flowers, invading the roadside verges, spreading across the machair, proclaiming that summer had started. Brilliant patches of bird’s-foot trefoil and the pom-pom heads of kidney vetch crept along the edges of gravel tracks and paths.

Amongst the grasses and spikes of yellow rattle, frothy clusters of lady’s bedstraw flowers turned yellow and released their honeyed perfume. The days are long, but northern summers are short and change is in the air. The gentle, golden glow of early summer is supplanted by a cavalcade of flowers of a different hue. It begins quietly as a mass of tufted vetch creates a base layer of soft violet amongst the patches of white clover.

As July progresses the pace quickens, swathes of red clover weave through the grasses and the statuesque, creamy umbels of hogweed and angelica add a robust architecture to the floral horizon. The prickly heads of thistles add to the purple tones and their cousins the sow-thistles throw in a dash of yellow as a highlight. On warm afternoons this vibrant tapestry hums with life and a heady fragrance permeates the air. Alas, not for our benefit, as in return for a sip of nectar or a nibble of pollen, a host of pollinating insects help to ensure that there will be flowers next year.

This exuberant display is not limited to the inbye fields and coastal headlands; on the cultivated machair the patchwork of cereal strips is garlanded with the golden drifts of corn marigolds, tall spikes of lemony charlock, scarlet poppies and pale pink fumitory. Wild flowers or arable weeds that have disappeared throughout much of mainland Britain, but survive here because of the persistence of a traditional and sustainable system of agriculture. It is a reminder that our stunning displays of summer flowers are the product of a managed landscape, that requires careful husbandry and an understanding of the importance of maintaining the diversity of our plants and wildlife. You don’t have to know the names of the flowers to enjoy summer’s floral progression, just take the time to lean on the gate and engage with nature.

Christine Johnson Photo copyright: Christine Johnson

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