Three foxgloves. First in Greece, Digitalis lanata; then ours, D. Purpurea; then in the Alps, in Slovenia, D. lutea. I was delighted when I found the greek one – who would have thought a brown flower could be so beautiful? – and I love the alpine one too, but then I thought, if all you’d ever seen were brown and pale yellow ones and then you saw the pinky purple ones, growing here on Cornish cliff tops, the colour somehow more intense in the mist, you would say wow! That’s the best one yet!

I do have a tendency to overlook and not recognise our native flora. The word native puts me off for a start.

Here’s another favourite, also from Slovenia, an orchid which loves mountain woodland and thrives inconspicuously even in deep shade, though this one was right by the edge of a road. It’s called Epipactis atrorubens. We call it a helleborine. Its colours are variable, I love the blend of green and purple on this one.

I’m feeling nostalgic for the mountains. This photo had already appeared earlier, in a post about the Gasterntal, in Switzerland, but I thought it was worth showing again. I’ve seen this orchid also in nature reserve in Kent, where it had a little wire cage around it.

But I must remember to choose pictures in portrait mode; they appear much bigger on the screen

That’s all for now