Thursday morning walk (Coombe Wood)

On Thursday morning I grabbed the opportunity to drive to Coombe Wood for a walk - last time driving for a while because I had an eye operation on Thursday afternoon.

While things are settling down after the operation I can't see very well. I hope I have chosen photos that aren't too blurred - everything is a bit blurry at the moment.

There were two fountains of water swishing around giving the tulips a thorough soaking.

Because of the position of the sprinklers it was difficult to walk around the paths and stay dry - particularly when distracted by taking photos. (I did get a little wet.)

Some of the tulips remained upright. 

Others bowed with the weight of the water. 

There were rainbows in the spray

Honesty flowers and pink blossom. 

Fern in the sunlight.

A tree festooned with silvery catkins.

Tiny acer leaves unfolding- none more than 3cms. 

The first allium.

 More alliums on the way. 

Honesty flowers in the sunlight - wonderful silky petals. 

The chains of creamy bells have almost all dropped from the tree and are carpeting the bench under the tree and the ground around it.

Korean Pine flowers - the tiniest touch sends a shower of pollen flying.

New tall slim cones forming.

Fabulous structure! (I've said this every year since I first noticed them.)

Pollen filled flowers and old cones - the one in the middle of the photo is about to fall apart and shed its seeds everywhere.

Shaggy little white pom poms. 

Orange azalea or rhododendron. 

I took a little detour to see if these flowers were out  yet. All of the flower stems stand upright above the leaves and are poised ready to burst open.

Coming back round I noticed that some of the new Korean pine cones are tinged red.

When zooming in on one thing, something else in the background can attract my attention. I certainly wouldn't have noticed these tiny clusters of yellow flowers dangling under the leaves on this shrub without the aid of the camera.

There are several enormous buds on the palm, 

The banana trees are still wrapped but the stems and leaves are lifting the protective coverings high

reminding me of flags

or the mast of a ship with sails drooping. 

The strongly scented azaleas - I have to pause and breathe deeply here - the scent is absolutely gorgeous.

The little tree that was so colourful last Autumn is covered in new heart shaped leaves.

Camellias are still flowering but many are dropping to the ground now. There are several colourful pools of them along the path in the photo above.

 Strange red buds. 

 Tiny delicate buds. 

Herbaceous borders filling out. 

Back to the tulips - still being watered. 

It was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours before heading off to the hospital for my eye operation. It went well but it will take quite a while for my eye to settle down and the other one will have to be done later on.

Thank you very much for joining me.