The bean lady at Coombe Wood

By the pond 

Tiny flowers

A wall of pink

Poppies

This is what the flowers look like on the plant I showed last time which has the top of the stem wider than the bottom.

 Pine resin dripping over the amazing structure of the Korean pine cone

Delicate pink flowers

Looking closer - a tiny spider with a body like a red berry

These white flowers (leaf bracts I believe) are turning brown and papery. . .

 . . . and their middles look like little sea anemones with tentacles protruding

These strange flowers remind me of something from underwater too - old wood with seaweed attached.

This might be an agapanthus beginning to emerge from its bud - I love agapanthus (agapanthuses?)

The gardener was watering the flower beds next to the  lawn.

 I love these colours and shapes

 Look at the delicious combination of colours - soft pinks and dusky purples.

Lovely delicate markings inside the flowers - amazing details - but how often do we take the time to look closer?

These have developed a structure inside that looks as if the bell-like flower might really be able to ring softly

I thought I heard the gardener tell me "The bean lady is here" - I was puzzled and had to ask him to repeat himself several times before I realised what he had really said. "The bee lady is here. Would you like to come and see?" Oh yes I would! Unfortunately she had just put the hive back together after looking inside but it was really interesting to talk to her.

The bee smoker for making them drowsy while the beekeeper looks in the hive

Bees going in holes under the shelf and one flying

Two more bees

The good news is that more of the hive is occupied now than when the bee lady last had a look. There is another hive ready, in case the bee population grows too big for this hive.

The bee lady packing things away

I learnt from the bee lady that a mock wasps nest hangs in a tree nearby in order to deter wasps by giving the message that a wasp colony already occupies this area, because wasps kill bees.

Thank you very much for joining me