Wild flowers

[joe]

At Caversham lock(view island) today.

[ladylouise62]

Really pretty - I wonder if Catherine knows what they are?

[Catherine]

Nice pics as usual, Joe!

Louise, you have too much faith in me though!

(And I've just lost my post as well...)

Anyway, I'll write it again....

When I saw the first flower, I immediately though of Himalayan Balsam, but it's orange, not pink. So I googled 'Orange Balsam, wild' and came up with this; Orange Balsam or Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis):: OS grid SU5985 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland - photograph every grid square!

Now, it says that it's not as invasive as the Himalayan type here; Friends of the Hermitage of Braid & Blackford Hill, but other sites say that its status is 'pending' while river managers and environmentalists make further studies of its advance. So I guess the jury's out on that one!

The other flower is definitely of the Forget-me-not family, but without seeing any leaf, I'm not sure which. As is it beside water, it's possible the Water Forget-me-not; BBC - Gardening: Plant Finder - Water forget-me-not , but without a leaf as well I cannot say.

So it's not definite, Joe - and I think I've failed, Louise...

[ladylouise62]

SNAP! - I first thought of Himalayan Balsam (blasted stuff!!), but I also thought, "..aah, but it's not pink"... but there I gave up But of course you haven't failed, Catherine - you did better than most of us here would have
Regarding Himalayan Balsam - it's not just the fact that it is invasive, but there's an issue about it being overly delicious for the insects so they don't visit other plants and so don't pollinate them - a double-whammy! The question would then be whether Orange Balsam has the same problem.

[joe]

Thank you Catherine for the info. I just take shots of pretty flowers without knowing what they are. I've no interest in gardening.