Acorn, bramble, bluebell, conker, kingfisher

I planted this last year, from seed but it is only this year that the plant has grown fully and come into flower.  I love the form of the flowers and their deep red colouring.

A very warm day (30 degrees) but beautifully cool and relaxing in the shade of the woodland.  

My birthday present from Andy arrived today - the book The Lost Words by Robert McFarlane with illustrations by Jackie Morris.  The book was inspired by the loss of words describing the natural world from the Oxford Junior Dictionary; words like 'acorn', 'bramble', bluebell', 'conker' and 'kingfisher'.  I can't imagine a childhood, or my adult life, without them.  A crowdfunding initiative has raised enough money for a copy of the book to be sent to every primary and secondary school in Scotland and there are similar initiatives across England.  If any of you are in Edinburgh over the summer, an exhibition of the paintings in the book is on at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh until early September.