WILD FLOWERS AND RAINBOWS

Rainbow and Wild Flowers on the road to Ballyferriter from Dingle.

Hi there! It’s been some time since you last saw me here. I just took a break from blogging and some other online activities due to constraints related to moving house. Very limited electricity and internet service made it just too challenging to continue blogging. The house move still isn’t complete, the internet is still basic and slow, but I have electricity. I hope it won’t take more than a few more months to complete the process.

Of course I have continued to take photos, though my painting is on the back burner. After several months spent in the lovely location of Ballyheigue, I have moved back to the Dingle Peninsula. It’s surely one of the most stunning places in the world. In fact, National Geographic Traveler has described the Dingle Peninsula as “the most beautiful place on earth”. I agree.

Weather is never predictable here, and very often it’s the weather that makes the image. Looking at many of my photos and paintings you will see that light, shadows, clouds, rough seas and rainbows are essential features in the compositions.

This summer has seen some of the coldest and the wettest weather in about 30 years here. However, the old saying that every cloud has a silver lining can perhaps be applied, as frequent showery and sunny spells have also brought the most lovely rainbows.

The above photo shows one of those fleeting rainbows that suddenly appear, the road to Ballyferriter from Dingle, with the iconic Three Sisters in the distance and stunning wild flowers in the field and by the roadside.

Please take time to view Dingle Peninsula photos on my website http://helene-brennan.com/c25-dingle-peninsula-photos

Thank you for looking at my blog.

Irish Wildflowers – Wildflowers of the Dingle Peninsula

It’s six years since I first posted this and I have now added some more photos (2019).

“Flaming flowers brightly blaze….” (Don McLean on Vincent Van Gogh).

Indeed the wildflowers of the Dingle Peninsula are brightly blazing at this time of the year, and have not been created by any artist other than nature, admittedly with a little help from the humans who have introduced many non-indiginous species such as the highly invasive montbretia. Nonetheless, I just love the fantastic swathes of colour they create along the roadsides in the rural areas.

The purple loosestrife is a wonderfully colourful flower in Ireland, although I believe it has been a problem in North America, where it is was accidentally introduced and had no natural enemies. The introduction of certain beetles and weevils appear to have successfully controlled it – I hope with no unwanted consequences.

July and August are the best months for these wonderful exhibitions of nature’s art, offering a joyous and thrilling experience for any tourist or local person driving, cycling or walking along the roads. For the driver, the challenge is finding a parking space to leave the car on these narrow roads, in order to get out and walk or take photos of these spectacular and colourful exhibits.

Sadly, there are many people who have either little regard or little awareness of this precious heritage, and often one can see evidence of weedkiller spray along vast areas of roadside at times when the flowers haven’t even had time to bloom and seed. So much must have been lost.

 

 

 

 

 

The thrift or sea pinks below can be seen all over the coastal areas of the peninsula, a lovely sight in early summer. In this photo they were getting a bit past their best.

The photos below were taken in my own wild garden.

The bee was my target in the above shot. I think it’s the Irish wild honey bee, but I have not had this confirmed. I would love someone to tell me if I’m right – or wrong? They absolutely love this flower, which I think is the rape seed flower? I had a burst of them this year.

 

 

I love the meadow sweet, (above and below). It has a really sweet smell, deserving its name.

 

 

 

 

 

MORE OF THESE PHOTOS CAN CAN SEEN ON MY WEBSITE:

http://www.helene-brennan.com/c802-irish-wildflowers-photos