Sunny walk in Coombe Wood

It was a lovely sunny morning. As I arrived I caught sight of the gardener in the distance looking like a spaceman in his protective suit, spraying weeds.

Little white flowers - just the outer row open

second row open

These are new - the flower is miniscule. There are loads of buds on this plant

I met the gardener along the pathway towards the steps and we had a conversation about plants etc. I was very annoyed with myself because he told me the names of a couple of plants and I really should have written them down at the time instead of thinking I'd remember later. By the time I'd walked on a few paces I'd forgotten them.

At least when I met the gardener again further round I did make a note of another plant name when he told me it

A bright splash of red and blue beside the steps

Delicate blossom around the corner

The two cats were on the bench again. The one that is giving me quite a stare came to say hello and then followed me for a while

New growth on the Golden Rain Tree - I wonder if it will have some seed pods this time. There weren't any last time but there were loads the year before

Behind the Golden Rain Tree there's a tree that has turned white with blossom since I last noticed it

In the grass by the bench that the cats were on there there are some delicate yellow flowers which I haven't noticed before - although I've seen the leaves and have been watching for what might happen next. Their petals curl backwards and remind me of fairies hats in the Flower Fairies children's books

From underneath 

Fritillaria photographed from low down. It's a shame I couldn't get closer to take a photo from underneath the flowers

From a distance the May Tree (Hawthorn) looks green - it's only when you get much closer that you can see all the little red buds

Anemones

A curtain of Stachyuros precox - I'm so glad I wrote that down as soon as the gardener told me its name. I'll come back to it later - I was all over the place looking at things today . . .

Korean pine flowers

These have developed more than the ones in the picture before

Young Acer - red stems and new green leaves

Back to the Stachyuros Precox for a closer look at those flowers. (What a shame it doesn't have a common name - Stachyuros Precox is a bit of a mouthful)

And back to the Korean pine flowers - looking like decorations on a Christmas tree

Leaf buds - I think this is a Sumach tree but I'm not 100% sure

Red acer leaves and flowers

Pink Magnolias

Now that the flowers have gone from the witch hazel trees the leaves are opening

Pink Camelia in the sunshine

The other plant that has trailing strands of bells - these are white and slimmer than the Stachyuros Precox bells and their petals curl outwards a tiny bit at the bottom. There's a bumble bee in the middle of the picture

Sunlight in a little clearing between the trees

Pods to the right and possibly blossom buds to the left. I understand the blossom on this tree could be quite spectacular - I'm interested to see what the buds will do next

I don't think I've ever seen a bee with so much pollen on it as this bumble bee has

Huge pastel pink magnolias - the biggest was about 10 inches across and not fully open yet

A closer look at the middle

Delicate little white magnolias with slim petals

Pink and white magnolias

Bluebells coming out among the onion smelling plants

These really fascinate me. Their long stems are very slim - and just when you think a flower is opening it throws out two more stems with strange structures on the end of them

Green acer with flowers - interesting that the red acer and the green acer both have similar coloured flowers

I have no idea what this leafy bud is but on the right there's what looks like a flower forming

Back to the onion smelling plants - and these are just ready to open and send out the pair of stems which the flowers will grow on

I will be watching these buds - they will form red flowers later

Clusters of flowers like miniature ready made bouquets

Little fluffy pom poms

Tree peony bud in the sunshine

Beech buds

New beech leaves in the sun

Snakes head fritillary

and another

Towards the back of the fork in the tree there's a very young mistletoe plant growing

As I walked towards the section of garden near to the gate I was aware of the hum of the mower in the background. The gardener works incredibly hard

Short, wide, bright red double tulips have opened since my last visit. 

Another bed has white tulips, with raspberry red flowers underneath

and another bed has bright zingy orange and red flowers

Fluffy bulrush against the sunlit pond weed - the strong sunlight making the pond look luminous green again 

A cloud came over the sun changing the colour immediately. Spider have been weaving their webs around the bulrushes - feather seeds have caught in the webs and were blowing about in the breeze

In the car park - laurel flowers at all stages of development

Thank you so much for joining me