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| Veronicas
come in all sorts and sizes. A couple of
months ago this space featured one from the high,
dry mountains of the marches between Europe and
Asia. This month's Veronica spicata grows widely in
lowland Europe; it is the county flower of
Montgomeryshire in Wales. The two upper pictures
here were taken on the Swedish island of Öland, in
the Baltic sea. |
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Öland has
a limestone pavement with some similarities to the
Burren, and the island is famed for its orchids.
These were mostly gone by the time the veronica was
photographed in August, but the bronze-age stone
burial monuments remain always. Reminiscent of the
circles in Ireland and elsewhere, but distinctively
ship-shape. |
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Veronica
spicata in Öland |
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Veronica
spicata in cultivation
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| In
our garden is Veronica spicata which was
photographed in full flower in early July, and
still shows blue at the tips of the spikes in
early September. |
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| This
may be "Ulster Blue
Dwarf", which is fairly widely
distributed among our members. The
recorded existence of this clone begins
in John McWhirter's garden - he was
given it 'by an old lady'. Ulster Blue
Dwarf is an excellent and easy plant,
compact and long-flowering. |
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