Spring walk Tuesday afternoon (Coombe Wood)

After a miserable grey morning it brightened up in the afternoon - very good timing as I was meeeting a friend at Coombe Wood.

The reflections on the pond were interrupted by filmy green swirls.

The gardener was just finishing for the day. He had been moving more mulch to the prairie beds.

Looking closer at Euphorbia "flowers". 

Wonderful blue.

Getting very close - delicate veins. 

This mossy stuff is tiny. I saw the pinkish tinge and got really close for a better look. It reminds me of something that wouldn't look at all out of place in a rock pool.

Miniscule seed pods - I only noticed these because I was perched on a rock waiting for my friend to arrive.

Glory of the snow.

Mulched prairie beds. 

We heard the robin quite a while before we saw it. 

My friend saw these first. I must have walked past them yesterday without noticing them. It's really good walking with friends - they often notice things I've missed.

Hellebores - camouflaged among all the fallen leaves. They showed up a lot better in the snow.

Some of the magnolia buds have opened since yesterday.

It's so easy to walk past these gorgeous tiny pink flowers without noticing them.

We made it up to the top. 

 Little bursts of red against the courtyard wall. 

Thank you very much for joining me. 

Monday morning sunny walk (Coombe Wood)

While heading back to the car after an appointment with the Dr, I noticed a lovely cheerful patch of sunlit daffodils.

It was a beautiful warm sunny spring morning and Coombe Wood was calling me. It's over a week since I was there last, when everything was covered in a blanket of snow.

The old bulrushes are a beautiful mixture of textures with their brown cylindrical centres bursting with wafting seeds like candyfloss or extravagant feather boas.

 A mound of daffodils in the sun. 

Pastel lemon primroses

Up the steps.

Fritillaria imperial plants. I don't  remember seeing these springing into life last time. I've checked my photos from that visit and there were a few tops just peeping through the snow. The gardener confirmed that they grow really fast.

These looked like the white flowers so I stayed at a distance at first because I find the smell of the flowers repulsive but as I came a bit closer I realised it was just the way the sunlight was shining through the needle-like leaves.

These fascinate me - showers of creamy bells. 

A bee in heather. 

The banana plants are still wearing their winter protection. 

The gardener and his wheelbarrow. 

Looking almost tropical.

Abundance of berries.

Sumach tree flower.

Moss covered old tree trunk - like a little volcano.

 New shoots everywhere. 

This little bare tree will be covered in heart shaped leaves which will turn fiery colours.

Camellia

Buds ready to burst open. 

More little bells - these have scalloped edges. 

Buds 

Berries or seed pods? I'd love a much closer look but there's nothing on the lower branches that are within reach.

 Old beech nuts and new leaf shoots. 

I noticed that the gardener has been putting down some more bark chippings where the path is most full of dips and muddy puddles.

 Pink blossom.

More evidence of the gardener at work - both of the herbaceous borders have been fully mulched now - that's a lot of mulch to shift, one wheelbarrow load at a time.

Glistening furry buds. 

 Slender trailing growth in front of beech branches.

Chionodoxa ("Glory of the snow") 

Aha - that's where the gardener is working today....

Scratching post.

These are the daffodils that were barely peeping above the snow on my last visit. 

The cat tiptoed through the daffodils and joined me on the concrete seat. 

Silvery twigs. (Sky still clear and very blue.) 

The gardener said he planned to shift 40 barrow loads of mulch today. I wonder how far he had got by this stage.

These have recovered well from their snowy covering.

Tiny daffodils.

Thank you very much for joining me.