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Orchard Drive, EDINBURGH, EH4 2DY

A useful link between western Edinburgh and Stockbridge, Craigleith Road is lined with Victorian villas built of the pale sandstone from Craigleith Quarry at the west end of the street. I was intrigued to see Image

The path leads across the park from Queensferry Road to Orchard Road.

Assorted play equipment round the north-east perimeter of the park.

Inter-war bungalows, many with inserted dormers lighting loft conversions, line the north side of Orchard Road. On the south side of the road is Orchard Park North.

Normally this plant has bright pink flowers, but along the edge of the pavement here they are white.

The A90 at Orchard Park which follows the line of a raised beach from the last Glacial Age. Image

I know that ivy is a tenacious climber, but I was surprised to see that it has managed to climb almost to the top of this street light. I rather like it, but it will be interesting to see how long it is allowed to remain there before the council has it removed.

There were lots of these in amongst a narrow wildflower strip running along the Northern edge of Orchard Park South. The plant's Latin name is 'Glebionis segetum'. Until 25 years ago, however, it went by the name 'Chrysanthemum segetum' which can cause some confusion as several websites (and obviously lots of old books) still use the old name. The petals look like something has nibbled a bit out of the end of them. According to the Wikipedia page on the flower - bits of which are copied and pasted shamelessly by numerous other sites - they are particularly good sources of pollen and nectar, have a long blooming period, and attract bees, hoverflies and small butterflies in large numbers. So with the current drive to increase pollinator numbers in the UK they are an increasingly common sight. They are thought to originate from the Eastern Mediterranean but have been in this country for hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of years. Wikipedia's nice little bit of trivia is that there was supposedly a 13th Century royal decree in Scotland stating that if anyone let the flowers grow on their land they would forfeit a sheep to the king.

Queensferry Road lies between the two parts of Orchard Park. The houses are in Blinkbonny Gardens.

Looking along Queensferry Road as it heads through Edinburgh.