Still flowering

Walking on the chalky hillsides this morning with mist obscuring views over the Vale of Aylesbury and the vegetation all dank and dripping...the main bright moments were provided by the occasional cluster of flowers of Devil's-bit Scabious, Succisa pratensis. This is one of the few plants still displaying freshly opened flowers in such a vivid blue/puple that it almost jars against the increasingly sombre autumn palette of the surrounding vegetation. It is such a cheery plant on days like these.

It is such a shame that Marsh Frittilary butterflies, the most famous insect tenants of the Devil's-bit, can no longer be found anywhere nearby.