LITTLE ARTY JOURNEYS: Coombe Wood (Monday morning walk)

After a run of lovely sunny days it was much chillier this morning. I was very glad of the extra layer I popped back to the car for.

Flashes of orange and yellow peep though the foliage by the pond.

It was quite breezy and the bees had to cling on tight while feeding.

Most of these are conical but this one is rectangular and looks even more like a "Fab" lolly than the others do.

Salvias

At first glance the plant in the middle scrambling over the rocks just looks green

but looking closer there are tiny white flowers with smudges of pink.

and looking even closer there are pink stripes on the top petals.

This is my index finger so you can see just how tiny these flowers are.

Rows of tall yellow flowers.

Stunning red poppy.

Pink

More pink - leaning foxgloves.

I like the way these spheres overlap

Soft grasses springing up in front of this group.

Pink tinged centres and slightly frilly edges to the petals - like stretched crepe paper.

Loads of these now.

So many different things going on in the centre of the love-in-a-mist flower. Green strands like twisting tentacles, Some of the longer lower stamens have pink filaments and the anthers look like elongated coffee beans.

Poppies.

There are clusters of poppies of different sizes and heights. This is a little area of small short poppies and some yellow trefoil.

Here the different heights show - tall in the foreground, small short ones in the middle distance and tall nearer to the yew arch and bench.

Aquilegia - the middle seed pod has either seeds showing or insect eggs on it.

Palm and banana trees with rapidly growing burgundy plant in front. I'm sure it's grown several inches since I saw it on Thursday.

I walked into and a different scent today - it was coming from a massive rambling honeysuckle.

A squirrel was inside the netting that is supposed to be protecting the young walnut tree. The squirrel was disturbed by my approach and instead of climbing up the tree and escaping that way it panicked and tried to run through the netting.

I backed away in the hope that it would panic less but it fought with the netting and squeezed through. I thought I might have to go and help it but after a short struggle it managed to get through.

Garlands of rhododendrons.

Cascades of white flowers

All these flowers to choose from and two bees were aiming for the same flowers.

The creamy-white cornus bracts are standing further above the green leaves.

The little green bobbles are where the individual flowers are opening.

Looking closer at the white plumes that I photographed last time I was at Coombe Wood.

The herbaceous borders are filling up rapidly.

Football sized allium.

Some alliums appear to be flat on top - because there are still many buds at the top almost ready to open.

One of the earlier alliums has something growing in the middle.

I poked it - it was attached. Strange.

I thought these slender stems were blue till I looked through the camera and discovered that the stems and buds are purple and the flowers are deep blue, bordering on purple.

I like the contrasts of texture in this area - most of the plants are shades of purple and blue - with the occasional pop of orange but the textures are very varied - big silky iris petals, tiny geometric buds on the straight stems above, and fluffy clouds of floaty tiny purple flowers behind these irises.

Deep blue and white delphiniums behind this iris.

Delphinium.

The breeze was quite strong - this clever bee had anchored itself on a big allium to feed on the tiny purple flowers that were poking through. The other bees seemed to be struggling to stay on the tiny flowers.