The sun shone late one evening last week when I went for a walk along a beach in Errislannan with my family. This is a beautiful peninsula just south of Clifden. I took some pictures and we collected driftwood and paddled in the water.  Unexpectedly, I found a treasure of flowers growing in the area. This is the view looking back down the beach from the furthermost point.

 

 

 

 

There is no sand here, just stones all rounded by the tidal movements of the sea.

 

 

 

 

 

I stopped to photograph this vivid blue plant on a bank along the beach. I am no botanist so I welcome advice on the naming of any of these! Is this one a Scabious?

 

 

 

 

Here it is again from on top. I love its starlike shape and its jewel blue colours.

 

 

 

 

I almost missed this next one. There were just two little plants on their own right at the edge of the shore. I’m going out on a limb here to suggest that this might be a wild Orchid..

 

 

 

 

The next photo is of some Thrift, my favourite plant of all. I am amazed how it manages to grow so prolifically in the most barren of places, it seems to sustain itself from rock alone.

 

 

 

 

I was surprised by how much it had turned, nearly all the clumps of flowers were a dry honey brown colour (below). I like the line of them still, their tall broad stems and their bobbles of crispy petals.

 

 

 

 

Here’s one that’s just beginning to fade (below).

 

 

 

 

This last picture is of a single Thrift flower still in full bloom. There were only a handful of these.