Not a great deal happens on the croft during the winter months, just a meander around the estate to check the fences and the giant hedge, cast an eye over the desolate vegetable and cottage garden and scan the beach for driftwood. I also look in the polytunnel on a regular basis to ensure that […]
machair
Riotous assembly
Windsor and cadmium lemon, bismuth, chrome and cadmium yellow, Naples and Indian deep and light yellow, jaune brilliant and yellow ochre have been splashed and dripped across Ardivachar headland as the sun has irradiated the islands for the past month. The machair is in its yellow period and the early summer flowers are glowing and […]
From the flowers of the field
We are reformers in the spring and summer, but in autumn we stand by the old. Reformers in the morning, and conservers at night. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson The sight of a mixed cereal field on the machair in the Outer Hebrides is sufficient to give any East Anglian cereal baron apoplexy. You would not be […]
The Machair in Flower – May
I know that the machair is about to burst into flower when the grass becomes speckled with the small white flowers of our common daisy (Bellis perennis). As the days pass the grassland slowly turns into a sea of waving golden heads of meadow buttercups (Ranunculus acris). Tall and elegant they sway in the breeze […]
The Machair in Flower
The machair in flower is one of the best wildflower displays in the British Isles and at it’s peak the carpet of flowers is breath-taking. It inspires my gardening but at times I wonder why I bother as nature makes a much better job of it, the plant selection and colour palette is stunning and […]