Five days - three walks

Walk 1: Coombe Wood with friends.

It was a good thing I took an umbrella - the first part of this walk was in the rain.

Huge crown imperial fritillary seeds

Pine "flowers"

Allium from behind - looking like a mop head

Some darker alliums are appearing - packed tight with flower buds

Raindrops

 The love in the mist flowers are developing. 

 Wild flowers in the long grass - I think this is yellow rattle

I have no idea what this shaggy lilac one is though

Yellow Jerusalem sage and purple alliums. 

Orange flowers wet from the rain. 

Tiny white flowers (possibly saxifrage)

Raindrops on leaves. 

 I like the way these flowers look so crumpled. 

Walk 2: Coombe Wood on my own.

The gardener has been clearing the tulip beds ready for something else.

I'm amazed at how long it takes the bullrushes to shed their seeds - I wish I could have one to examine more closely.

Pink flowers viewed from the back with the sun shining through them. Their green and white sepals are beautifully striped.

From the front - all facing the sun. 

 Look at the enormous amount of pollen this bee has collected. 

 Interesting shaped leaf unfurling in the sunshine.

 Delicate blue flowers.

The flowers on this plant are tiny but the bees must like it - they were all over it.

Daisies growing from a wall.

Alliums again.

 Love in the mist flowers coming out.

A mass of yellow flowers.

 Interesting grass seeds.

I like this corner of the garden - there are a couple of grassy "paths" that go between flower beds.

The flowers on the palm tree that I had only noticed last week have burst out a lot more.

I think the new Korean pine cones look fabulous in the sunshine. 

I don't think I've ever seen such a mass of seeds growing on this acer before. The seeds are pastel green with pink tips.

Some of the rhododendrons are past their best but loads still look fabulous.

The freckled patches on these have got much darker. 

 Petal carpet. 

The scent from the yellow azaleas is still strong. 

A big black crow swooped into the tree as I was looking up to see if I could see a woodpecker that I could hear.

Creamy flowers and bright leaves in the sunshine. 

Narrow thin red leaves against the blue sky. 

Red acer leaves - so thin that you can see the shadows where they overlap.

The wild flower bed is growing - the big daisies are the first to flower - the rest is coming along quite fast now.

 The gardener at work. 

On the way back to the car I caught sight of the sun through the copper beech tree - the hairs on the edges of the leaves catching the light.

Walk 3: High Elms Country Park. with a friend and her daughter's dog. 

The lovely cool shady tunnels of trees were very welcome on a hot and muggy day. 

Elder flowers

There are at least three blue damselflies in this photo - they were flitting about everywhere.

 The water was thick with tadpoles 

Thank you very much for joining me.