Woven gardens

It is late summer here in Shetland and the light is changing daily. The sun is lower in the sky and the long days are giving way to long nights. But in the garden and in the land flowers are blooming their hearts out.

We are lucky to live in this part of the world. Surrounded by sea and light and air and rolling hills covered in peat and moss, there is a wealth of plant life, including some amazing flowers. This year has been a very good year for wild flowers and we are now in heather season with the hills starting to turn purple and pink, and splashes of vibrant colour appearing in amongst the drying grasses topped with seeds. The summer visiting birds are preparing to fly by eating their fill of the seeds and berries. Even the lark's song pouring down from the sky is silenced while the little brown bird hunts on the ground for food. For some pictures of what Shetland flowers look like in summer have a look at my Flickr stream.

Our garden is looking good too. One side of the plot is wild with native plants and grasses growing wherever they like while on the other side we have poppies, roses, pansies and violas, herbs and trees and bushes all putting on a lovely display of colour.

We like our colour up here in Yell. How about this representation of the colours of the isles in sample tweeds? I love the way it captures the colours I see on my walk to work. Brilliant! Sample tweed

Across the water a friend-of-the-blog has sent in a link to someone who is commemorating summer in a different way. Sort of like a reverse tapestry, Caroline Larsen paints gardens (and other subjects) as though they are made of yarns. Oh, what fun! Enjoy the rest of the Northern Hemisphere's summer, everyone.