Dryas octopetala

Today's the day ....................... to swelter

It has been way too hot to be doing any work in the garden today - which is not a thing I say very often.

I did go in the greenhouse and attempted to pot up a few plants but within a few minutes I had nearly expired from the heat.  In fact, quite a few plants in the garden were distinctly flagging - not from lack of water - but from the fierce temperature of the sun.

I'm not sure what this little beauty, the first mountain avens flower to open, would have made of things today.  You would normally find it growing on limestone in arctic-alpine regions of the world. In the UK, it occurs in the Pennines, at two locations in Snowdonia and more widely in the Scottish Highlands.  In Ireland it occurs on The Burren and a few other sites. 

Apparently it is Iceland's national flower - and I bet it was wishing it was somewhere a bit more arctic or alpine  today ..........................