Open petals

Not long now till the Open at Sandwich, but nobody's given me a complimentary VIP ticket yet. There must be a few going spare, now that Tiger's not going to play.
The tees, greens and fairways are being manicured and the TV gantries are up but there are still some rough areas holding interesting plants, including some fading Lizard Orchids.

Just off one of the buggy tracks is a dried-up pond which astonishes anyone looking over the rushes with a carpet of Bog Pimpernel - the strawberries-and-cream glow is entrancing.


Off the fairway, in their usual dell, are Marsh Helleborines.....
.... in one bloom of which sat a striking fly, one of the "picture-winged" ones which make those gooseberry-like galls on Creeping Thistles.