"Scottish Snippets"

"Colour Supplement"

5 August 2006

Each week the Rampant Scotland Newsletter includes a number of photographs which illustrate the weather, flora and fauna of the current week around Scotland. There are so many such graphics worth including that a separate "colour supplement" is created so as not to totally overload the Newsletter. Here is this week's crop!


This Red Admiral butterfly, feeding on Buddleja, one of the favourite flowers of many butterflies, refused to unfold its wings to show off the brilliant colours on its upper side. Although not nearly as bright, the colours and patterns on the under side are a more than adequate substitute, however!


This unusual rose was spotted at Finlaystone House in Renfrewshire. This week, all the photos were taken there.


Finlaystone House incorporates a 15th century castle but it was extended and remodelled in 1760 and again between 1899 and 1903. The 5th Earl of Glencairn invited John Knox to preach there in 1556. You can see an ancient yew tree in front of the house, under which Knox is said to have preached - though a later owner had the tree moved away from the house as it was blocking the light to the windows! Robert Burns, who was a friend of one of the Earls of Glencairn, also visited the house. Finlaystone is now the home of the chief of the clan MacMillan.


Another flower which is popular with butterflies is this Inula. There were a few butterflies feeding there around the time this picture was taken, but they didn't stay long enough to have their portraits taken!


The colour of the flowers on the large mop-head Hydrangeas is determined by the acidity of the soil. Intense blue ones like these are produced on acid soil but the same type of plant can produce pink flowers on neutral or alkaline soils. Red blooms are produced on strongly alkaline soil.


Although the trees block some of the view in summer, the gardens at Finlaystone offer a grand vista of the Firth of Clyde and the hills and mountains of Argyll beyond.


One of the may types of lily grown at Finlaystone.

If you want to look back at earlier editions of this Colour Supplement, there is an Index Page





Where else would you like to go in Scotland?








Separator line