Edinburgh and the Titan Arum

I spent a few days in Edinburgh at the beginning of August staying with our youngest son. These are some photographs of the city taken from Calton Hill. On a clear day there are good views of the city and surroundings.

Below, looking North over the Firth of Forth

looking towards Leith

and a view of Arthurs Seat and the Crags.

While I was in Edinburgh, one of the world's biggest flowers was blooming in the Royal Botanic Gardens.

The Titan Arum, Amorphphallus titanum, first bloomed in the glasshouses in June 2015 and for the second time on the 1st August this year. It is also one of the smelliest flowers emitting the odour of rotting flesh to attract pollinators. Luckily for me, the smell is only present during the first day or so and when I saw it on August 4th there was no longer any smell.

A hole was cut in the base of the flower to allow it to be hand pollinated, hopefully some seeds will be produced.

While I was there the height of the flower was measured, the photograph gives some idea of the size.

              
An information board shows the rate of growth of the first bloom in 2015.

It was raining when I visited the botanic gardens this time so no photographs outside but the glasshouses proved to be a perfect place to spend a wet afternoon.

towards the end of summer

This summer has passed too quickly and September is here. I have been lucky to have had a couple of trips away and as often happens, when I arrive home even after only a few days,  I feel I  have jumped to a new season.

The late summer heather and gorse have been joined by a a few autumnal fungi, this was a striking specimen.

The garden has become untidy through lack of attention during the last few weeks but if you stand back and look from a distance it doesn't appear too bad. Crab apples, grapes and ornamental berries are ripening and with the sun lower in the sky there is a feeling of early autumn.

This little bench is a good place to catch the sun and the geraniums in pots have survived well considering they have missed out on regular watering while I was away.

I have lots of photographs of my holidays to sort out and a recently completed knitting project blocking on the living room floor, I hope to post pictures of both soon.