Wednesday 20 July 2016

A good year for the roses


 It seems to have been a particularly good year for the wild roses - also known as Dog Rose (Rosa canina), at least here in the northeast of Scotland.  The bushes have been loaded with flowers all through June and July, a lovely sight in the hedgerows.





The delicate pink flowers don't have much of a scent but are a magnet for bees and other pollinating insects.  Later in the year the rosehips provide an important food source for birds, migratory thrushes such as Redwings and Fieldfares seeming to particularly enjoy them, and if you can get some ripened rosehips before the birds do, syrup made from wild rosehips contains twenty times as much Vitamin C as orange juice!

2 comments:

  1. Hi Ian, just caught up with all your last postings...great reads and pics as always! We've been away from the blog for far too long but it seems to have been such a busy month or so catching up with waiting projects here on VI. Will be back soon at it soon, with a bit of luck. In the meantime, warm wishes to you and Linda.

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    1. Hi D & J, good to hear from you! Look forward to seeing you back up on the blog soon, with warm wishes to you both

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