June is my favourite month in Orkney! The colours and smells of all the wildflowers are wonderful. In early June we have the celandines and marsh marigolds which appear out of our freshwater streams, all a few weeks later than down south and this year especially late as Orkney has been dry and cold.
A visit to the secret garden of Happy Valley is a must in early June also, just to see and feel the bluebells which grow below the trees that surround 'Edwin's' cottage.
The roadside verges are full of ragged robin, pink campion, wild garlic, and cocks and hens, all of them fighting for their own we spot in amongst the different grasses of the roadside verges. I am so glad that our council have stopped trimming the verges, at least in some places. It encourage's not just the wildflowers but the insects and birds too.
Orkney's fields are full of buttercups too, bright yellow against our 'black' cows, the Aberdeen angus and outside the fences grow large scarlet poppies, these having escaped from neighbouring gardens. These are Opium poppies and not the small red wild poppy which are more rare here in Orkney.
Along the shoreline the ox-eye daisies are starting to bloom. Their beautiful white petals standing out against their mustard yellow centres. They make for a great painting subject especially when you get down low and look through the flower heads to the colour of the sandy beach and glittering turquoise sea in the background.
A walk along the cliffs at Yesnaby provides you with an abundance of seapinks crouching amongst the rocks and even the elusive primula scotica, a rare tiny flower in the north is to be found in the short stubby grassy areas away from the cliff.
Over the years I have painted these flowers and looked forward to the month of June when they re-appear without fail. I hope you enjoy seeing all my pictures of flowers.