Scottish Flowers

Scotland in summer is full of flowers!

Here's the famous thistle, the national flower of Scotland, in its natural state

And here it is, in its symbolic state

These stunning wildflowers (Rosebay Willowherb) lined the roadways and railways all across Scotland; they formed enormous drifts of brilliant pink

Here they are, setting off the heather-covered hills. Heather only blooms for about 6 weeks...

Let's take this road!

The photos don't do justice to the heather - this is probably the closest to their actual color

I tried to get some up close (I guess I'll just have to go back and try again!

Here's another pink flower, but this one was by the riverbank 

These bristly fellows were along the banks of Lochs Lomond and Ness - a Gaelic word (forming part of the name of a national park) is "Trossachs" - one of the meanings is bristly, like this plant (and Scots, according to our guide 🤣)

This is the seed

Not all of the flowers were wild, of course...

And, not all of the flowers are even officially flowers!

If the hillsides aren't covered in trees or heather, then it's bracken!

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You can get a better feel for the road and rail sides by watching a couple of the short videos in my Scotland 2022 photo album.