Cairngorms in Bloom

There are many reasons to visit the high Cairngorms in early summer but for me one of the highlights is the alpine floral full bloom. ⠀
⠀
I can’t help but be amazed by the diversity of plant life surviving in this hostile environment. So delicate, yet tougher than anything else I know. ⠀
⠀
And bees too, buzzing about at over 1000m, flying among the bright pink Creeping Azalea.

A wonder to behold and their strength gives me strength. ⠀
⠀
⠀
🌿🌿🌿⠀
⠀
⠀
As always #NanShepherd puts it perfectly:⠀
⠀
‘The more one learns of this intricate interplay of soil, altitude, weather, and the living tissues of plant and insect, the more the mystery deepens. Knowledge does not dispel mystery. ⠀
⠀
Scientist tell me that the Alpine flora of the Scottish mountains is Arctic in origin – that these small scattered plants have outlived the Glacial period and are the only vegetable life in our country that is older than the Ice Age. But that doesn’t explain them. It only adds time to the equation and gives it a new dimension. ⠀
⠀
I find I have a naive faith in my Scientist friends – they are such jolly people, they wouldn’t fib me unnecessarily, and their stories make the world so interesting. But my imagination boggles at this. ⠀
⠀
I can imagine the antiquitary of rock, but the antiquity of a living flower – that is harder. It means that these toughs of the mountain top, with their angelic inflorescence and the devil in their roots, have had the cunning and the effrontery to cheat, not only a winter but an Ice Age. The scientists have the humility to acknowledge that they don’t know how it has been done.’⠀
⠀
📖 Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain ⠀
#Bennevis⠀
⠀
🌿🌿🌿⠀
⠀
#Inspiredbynature #wildscotland #cairngormsnationalpark #cairngorms #flora #ukmountains #plantlife #ukplants #alpineplants #wildflowers #wildflowerhour