Unexpected walk in Coombe Wood.

I was supposed to be doing something else today but it didn't happen - so I grabbed the opportunity of a walk in Coombe Wood.

There are still loads of whispy seeds to come off the bullrushes. They wafted in the breeze catching the sunlight.

Most of the tulip petals have fallen off although some remain in the flower beds nearer to the Cafe. 

The irises are coming out now

The tiny pink lilac is past its best but the scent is still delicious . . . 

. . . as is the scent of the yellow azaleas. More of their flowers are falling down their styles (have I got the word right this time I wonder?) and dangling there - reminding me of ballerina-like fuschias. 

The prairie bed is filling out - not much sign of the grasses yet but plenty of flowers. 

These are very small flowers and are fascinating me as I wonder what they will do next. They look like little party blowers as they stretch out their petals!

There are some other green bobbly structures forming, I'm finding it intriguing.

The inside of a freshly opened pink poppy. The middle looks a bit like a little illuminated cauliflower.

The palm seems to have grown some very unusual flowers very quickly - surely I would have noticed these if they were there before?

Great big clusters of tightly closed yellow buds.

There are still some lily of the valley - one of my top favourite flowers - I love those delicate bells and their gorgeous scent. 

The pathways are still flanked with fabulous showy rhododendrons and azaleas.

  Looking inside a pink rhododendron

Salmon colour - looking good. 

  I can't resist white blossom against blue sky. 

Hydrangea bud. I didn't notice the spiders web and the green spider till I put the photos on the computer (slightly above and to the left of the bud.)

Light shining through red/orange leaves - spiders web glinting against tree trunk to the right.

Looking closer at an iris. 

 
I'm amazed at how many different kinds of bees there are - I like this bee's stripy pattern.

More irises. 

 

Bees on allium. 

A butterfly caught my attention and I spent quite a while watching it flit from flower to flower.

 Then  back to watching bees again. 

The Jerusalem sage flowers are emerging - they're the ones with star shaped pods - you can see the star shapes in the buds too.

Everything looks lovely and green, with tiny splashes of colour here and there. 

These flowers are really tiny - I wouldn't have noticed them if I hadn't stopped to look at the daisies nearby. 

Thank you very much for joining me.