The flowers of green alkanet. The plant has a coarse, untidy habit which does no justice to the beauty of its blossoms. The name is derived from the Arabic for henna. It has been sugested that it was introduced into this country for the red dye, much cheaper than henna, which can be extracted from its roots. I know, from personal experience, that it is a deep rooted plant because it intrudes in the vegetable beds and needs to be dug out rather than pulled out, before it takes over. I have as yet extracted nothing from the roots. It flowers from March well into the summer. It is a member of the borage family.
I meet an old friend for lunch. We talk of matters of common interest, old times and new times, and suddenly five hours have passed. "We tire the sun with talking and send him down the sky."
I use my bus pass, which gives me free travel anywhere in the country, for the first time on a London bus. There is a card reader by the driver's cab as you enter the bus. The reader flashes and bleeps, and bob's your uncle.
3 comments:
good old uncle bob !
I am enjoying the paradox of these flower pictures - first a yellow poppy, then a flower of exquisite blueness which is famous for the red dye of its root.
Thanks for the posts.
I love alkanet as much for its name as its blueness, and of course the al-prefix denotes an Arabic origin...
You've got the blue well there, it often looks a bit washed out when I try to take it.
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