mayflowers

this is the flore  pleno variety of cuckoo flower (aka mayflower, lady's smock etc) which is common in local meadows by the Inny. The dew drops looked very pretty in the bright sun this morning.

orange tips

The air in the meadows by the Inny was full of orange tip butterflies today. They are jittery butterflies at the best of times but do settle to feed on mayflower and dandelion. The male's orange wings makes it very conspicuous although it ought to be called a brown tip. The female is much more demure and the underwing is cleverly camouflaged to fit in with meadow grasses.

blackest blackthorn

ethereal beauty of blackthorn bush at night

mayflower on a misty morning

the local flora is surging with new found life. Mayflowers are appearing everywhere. The weather is fine but in the river valleys the mornings are cold and misty.

meadow fritillaries

Fritillaries growing at Cotehele. For one moment I thought they were wild but one of the gardeners told me that they were planted (ours never flowered!). My flower book describes them as being "gregarious in damp meadows" which seems to fit them well. Below are some very large and bold marsh marigolds growing near Cotehele Mill.

Cotehele

 Up very early this morning to take some pictures at Cotehele. It was a misty morning and the light was very difficult being both bright and dull! This photo shows Calstock viaduct in the background running across the Tamar, with the magnolia in the gardens at Cotehele just coming into full bloom.

the bridge at Cotehele with crab apple blossom