It has been very pleasant to meet up with Houseonahill6. Limoniad and Sallymair and wander round the Botanic Gardens on this beautiful warm day. It was good to put faces to names too and coincidentally L and S found that they had childhood links and several friends in common which is not very likely for me having moved several times. Houseonahill has met about 30 blippers including in Iceland so it was very nice that she suggested we meet up during her short stay in Edinburgh. 
This is the view from the centre of the Botanic Gardens looking towards the Edinburgh skyline stretching from Nelson’s monument on Calton Hill and Arthur’s Seat along towards Edinburgh Castle.
(Extra) Apart from the numerous beautiful flowers I noticed some wild flowers which would not normally be found in a ‘pretty’ garden.  These were Toothworts (Lathraea squamaria) which are parasitic on various woody plants and were growing among hazel.  Usually they are a delicate shade of cream with a hint of pink but now they resembled dirty molars so had probably finished flowering and it was not easy to get a good photo.  However a more attractive toothwort is the Purple Toothwort (Lathraea clandestina) which was growing in profusion near the willow trees beside the pond where we watched the ducks and a moorhen trying to encourage her chicks into the water.  For most of the year the two plant species live entirely underground and consequently, as their leaves lack chlorophyll, they get their nutrients and water from their host trees but I don’t think they really damage the trees. Even now the cream coloured toothwort is probably not noticed by many, nor is it very common, but I was pleased to see it.