After the storm (Coombe Wood)

There was dramatic thunder and lightening last night and the plants all took quite a battering from torrential rain. I went for a walk this morning - I chanced it and wore flip flops - just about got away with it

The weight of the glittering raindrops kindly brought branches down to an easier height for photography

The pond was once again covered in a green film - which was disappointing

Holly leaf and raindrops - what a shine

I like the contrast between the spiky dark holly and the soft lime green stuff . . . whatever it is

A two tone shiny wet snail 

Crumpled tissue-paper-like petals

Buds poised to open

More crumpled wet petals

Brave stripy insect - there were a few about

A remarkably tall group of blue flowers had sprung up at the base of the steps on the path that goes up around the top of the cafe courtyard

This a real bee - not an insect that pretends to be a bee

These flowers have been flattened by the rain - I wonder if they can recover from this

Tiny red acer seeds - standing out from the little yellowy green leaves

Droplets hanging from tiny buds

Tiny fern - all those tightly curled fronds unfurling

The gardener has cut back the red coloured shrub - part of it had been flattened by the last lot of rain.

Once again I stand and admire the structure of the Korean pine cones - incredible

How neat - and green - everything looks

There are so many little flowers covering this tree - all with the potential to become berries and seeds

This shrub is a lot more subtle. You have to look quite hard to find the tiny bell shaped flowers covered in downy hairs, peeping out from under the leaves

It was a dull morning but hot and humid and I occasionally felt rain. More would have been very welcome to cool things off a bit. Tree trunks were striped where the rain had run down them

It's easy to see the lighter coloured new growth at the top of the Australian Pine, the length of new growth at the top of the stem and how far the top is away from the cone now (lower down at the left side)

Some of the paths had obviously had rivers of rain rushing down them quite recently. Flip flops weren't such a good idea in places

How beautifully green everything was - and what a lot of shades of green there are

Tiny white flowers dotted with red anthers floating on creamy filaments

Veins that are pale green as they reach out from the white centre change into darker purple as they travel towards the edge of the petals

The reflection in a drip of water

Several of the alluim heads are almost as big as footballs

I accidentally caught a photo of a bee leaving a plant, wings blurred, face towards me, feet dangling

Spindle berry buds

Two-tone

I met the gardener and we talked about how puzzling it is that the water was only clear for a very short while. He showed me a photo he had taken of a Holly Blue butterfly on a yellow flower (if I have remembered correctly, it might have been a trefoil flower). The gardener also told me that there's a very good patch of yellow rattle coming along - which I noticed on my way past later on

Yellow poppy - still with its casing clinging to the edges of the petals

Tiny buttercup-like rock plants

Rose and raindrops

Big leaves with stripes

On the way home I went to the garden centre to spend a voucher. A fox boldy walked up to me, had a good look at me and then trotted off. One of the assistants told me that she has had to chase it out of the shop several times. It trotted past me again later and this time I had my camera ready

Thank you very much for joining me