Coombe Wood yesterday morning & Erosion-bundle update

Another magical walk with wonderful scents and plenty of changes to notice since my last visit. 

Fortunately I couldn't get very near to the skunk cabbage - with a name like that it's unlikely to be one of the plants with a wonderful scent.

Marsh marigolds and skunk cabbage

Tiny white intricate structures

 A mass of raspberry coloured blooms

Tiny white flowers with a blush of pink

Stronger pink

Delicate pink star-like magnolias

 A bee heading for the large pink magnolia flowers

Magnolia flower structure inside

Lily of the valley shoots popping up under the trees

  Deep russet coloured acer and white magnolia

Wonderful red new growth next to showers of bell shaped flowers

    The camelias are still looking good

Rhododendrons in the sunshine

 Pink and white magnolias

Forsythia

White blossom

 New shoots on the tree peonies 

A red stemmed plant has been intriguing me as it has unfolded over the last few weeks. At last I know what it is - a bleeding heart plant.

 A few of the tulips are out - not many yet 

but a lot more are on their way

 The ferns are beginning to uncurl

   Tiny tulips 

A mass of citrus colours 

Bulrush seeds are still dispersing

EROSION BUNDLE PROJECT UPDATE

I had been disappointed with the results of my erosion bundle when I opened it at the beginning of April. On Tuesday I got round to trying the quicker method. The preparation takes time but the dyeing is quite quick. 

I made three bundles

• rusty nails wrapped in white muslin and tied with string
• a rusty door handle wrapped in white muslin and tied with string
• rusty nails, keys, a seive and a trowel stitched in place in an old white pillow case

These were soaked in tea for a couple of hours 

then left to dry overnight

This is the pillowcase with the items stitched in place

and the results when everything was removed

It was much quicker and resulted in stronger colour than the 3 months in the garden version. Now I need to decide what to do with the dyed fabric.

If you've read this far well done and thank you very much for joining me.