A COLOURFUL DAY

If there's one thing you can say about Spring, and that is, it's colourful. While out on a short run on my bicycle I was amazed at the variety of colours.

One of my favourite local routes takes me through Newhailes Estate, and just now the area is a palette of rainbow colours.

The daffodils are coming to an end, but I still managed to find a nice spread in the grounds.

I loved these  bright yellow bells so much I bought a small potted bunch of them and filmed them on time lapse as they opened up, which you can see in this 12 second video on YouTube.

Just around the corner from them, among the trees of a native wood, were the bluebells. A week ago they were just about to open, but now they are in full bloom, though I suspect even more have yet to open.

Further along was a collection of different wildflowers together, one of which I have had difficulty in identifying.  I asked everyone I thought might know, but I couldn't get a positive ID.  (it's the small pink flower in the photo). Finally I asked an expert friend of mine who used to be a director at The Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh. They are in fact Anemone Nemerosa, or, the Wood Anemone. So there!

As well as an abundance of colours comes an abundance of colourful scents as well.  Two of the strongest around on this day were the distinctive aroma of coconut from the gorse bushes and the pungent odour of the wild garlic.

But what must be my favourite display of colour, albeit short-lived, has to be the amazing cherry blossom in the local park just round the corner from my house.

And with the trees going from bare to lush green in just a matter of weeks, it all certainly adds up to a  colourful day.