Centaurea montana

We had a lazy start to the day (another I hear you say).  After lunch we decided we needed a bit of a "run out".  It didn't really matter where, but eventually we decided by mid afternoon on Larch Cottage Nurseries at Melkinthorpe.

The weather wasn't too good with my needing the windscreen wipers on the way there.  By the time we were wandering round things had faired up.    Unlike one of our local "chain" garden centres this one positively encourages you to take photographs and post them on the internet.  I must have had a good day photography wise as it took me  awhile to narrow my shots down and choose.

We had our usual coffee but this time we chose the balcony.  It was fabulous, the roof was covered in Wisteria in full flower, sheltered from the strong wind and looking over the glorious gardens.  We rounded the afternoon off with a quick visit to see Kanyl.

The shot is a form of Knapweed also known as Mountain Cornflower.  The species is native to Europe particularly the southern mountains.  However it has escaped and naturalised in the UK.  The Genus contains somewhere between 350 and 600 species.