I am talking of gorse, naturally. You know, the thorny bush with yellow flowers that encroaches on many a footpath, ready to place a scratch on an exposed leg.
It’s not all bad though. If you are ever surrounded by gorse in bloom, close your eyes and you could believe you’re on a tropical desert island as the scent of coconut hits the nose. The first time I really appreciated this was in Applecross, Scotland but have enjoyed this scent many times since. And then of course there is the feast of brilliant yellow of each and every flower.
I can’t reproduce the smell here, but here are some shots of the individual flowers.
So take a new look (and smell) at the mighty gorse.
Meticulous Mick 
planning on making some gorse cordial omce it’s in full bloom. Love the LOOK of it, not the FEEL of it. Wonder how I’ll like the TASTE of it. Great close-ups – it really is beautiful.
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Never heard of that, let me know how the testing session goes, MM 🍹
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Flowering en masse they really are quite beautiful! There used to be a lot of gorse growing on the hills around where we lived in Wellington, NZ. Beautiful shots Mick!
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Thanks Gather and Graze, you are so right in the blaze of yellow across a hillside that these plants can provide. Stunning. MM 😎
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Apparently, according to a chap who knocked on our door to ask if he could collect some gorse on our hill, if you chop it up it helps heal internal bleeding in horses. Ironic really – you’expect all those thorns to have the opposite effect! Lovely images,
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I am being so educated by this post, glad I pout it up there for comment. I’ll ask a few horsey friends 😃
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Lovely and the light is so nice. 🙂
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Thanks Laura, appreciated. Like the new Gravatar 😎
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I’ve seen gorse while I was in Scotland, but it wasn’t in bloom. So I am enjoying its lovely yellow blossoming that redeems its weediness for the rest of the year. And the smell of coconut? How can anything smelling like that possibly be a weed?
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There are plentiful beautiful ‘weeds’ around, but it is just a label. Use it how you wish 😎
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“When gorse is out of flower, kissing is out of fashion” – an old country saying.
I too love the scent – even on a cool day, shutting my eyes and inhaling it reminds me of hot days, the pods crackling in the sun and lazy bees buzzing. Aaah, summer, where art thou?
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Love the saying Lois and glad to say that it looks like summer is coming…..sunshine hello 🌞
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Gorgeous yellow. I have never encountered that flower during my travels across America. Beautiful.
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Thank you, typically one would see the bush of a blaze of yellow rather than the individual flowers. MM 🍀
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Lovely images, MM.
I’ll just have to imagine the smell for the time being – I can’t remember having seen it (or I just didn’t know what it was called). It’s classified as a weed here.
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I’d say here too where it is found in abundance in the wild. 😃
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Reblogged this on Karma's little spanker.
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Love that smell Mick, and your close-ups are excellent. Up in Tyrone they would be widely known as “whin bushes”.
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That’s a new one on me, thank you Aidy. MM 🍀
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The gorse has a lovely vibrant colour. I love looking at it in full bloom across hills or mountains!
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Well next time try and smell those coconuts too 😃
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Aaah – Applecross, you have got me wistfully thinking. A return trip is long overdue. BTW, do you follow applecrosslife on WordPress?
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No I do not, will try searching for it. Stunning location. 👍
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You did a lovely job of capturing this wee flower. I wondered what it was named – there is a lot of gorse in Normandy!
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And plenty in these parts too. 😃
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