Unexpected bonus walk (Coombe Wood)

It's lovely when a friend asks if I'd like to meet them at Coombe Wood - even if I did have quite a long walk there yesterday. I'm always happy to go again if I can! It's also lovely to go there at different times of day. 

Today wasn't a visit when I took a lot of photos - we spent quite a bit of time in the cafe chatting and enjoying banoffee (triple layer!) cake.....but of course I did take a few! 

Sunlight through enormous gunnera leaf.

Vine leaf changing colour.

Grapes.

Hops

A pool of sunlight on red flowers. 

Golden Rain Tree pods against lovely blue sky. 

Many more of these unusual cosmos flowers with tubular petals have opened now.

White fluffy grasses. 

The vine has scrambled right to the top of the tree. 

Thank you very much for joining me. 

Blue sky and warm sunny Monday morning - walk with a friend. (Coombe Wood)

For various reasons I ddin't manage any walks last week so it was a real treat to get back to Coombe Wood this morning with a friend and a big bonus to have blue sky and warm sunshine after Sunday's torrential rain.

I love the way the cyclamen flowers uncurl. 

Pond reflections. 

Fuchsia's bobbing as insects landed on them.

The pods on the Golden rain tree have changed colour. 

Banana flowers and tiny bananas. 

Another flower round the other side.

Banana leaves in the sunshine.

Callicarpa berries. 

They're deeper purple than they have come out here. 

 Beech nuts.

Candyfloss tree.

Looking closer - sunlight and shadows. 

Acer leaves and winged seeds. 

Beech leaves catching the sunlight.

My cousin visited Kew on Saturday (that's where you'll find her most Saturday's) and said that the leaves were turning there. Coombe Wood is behind Kew - not many leaves have changed colour here yet but I did find some....

The spindleberries are coming along nicely but infortunately my close ups were blurred so just a general photo today.

Cosmos with tubular petals.

Cosmos with normal petals. 

Asters. 

Other variety of spindleberries - not ready to open yet. Some are plump and round - others to the left look more like the icing tops of little iced gem biscuits.

Red and purple fuchsias. 

Double decker cats.

There were quite a lot of dragonflies flying around - one settled near us.

It had uneven white spots on its head. 

Grapes and vine leaves changing colour. 

Thank you very much for joining me. 

Catching up - two walks last week (Coombe Wood)

Walk 1

The fluffy bulrushes. 

Paths in between the colourful prairie beds.

Flower middle - wonderful patterns - and all those little curls.

Bee crawling round and round. 

Another banana flower.

A different hydrangea - recently planted. The petals have serated edges.

The other banana flower. 

Spindle berries blushing red.

Surprisingly wide stem on these. Light through petals.

Tiny buds covered in dew.

 Twisty pods.

Lichen.

New mistletoe plants growing in the forks of branches.

Reds.

Orange abutilon,  wonderful mottled leaves and gorgeous red flower spikes growing through the abutilon.

Orange and yellow tubular flowers and love-in-a-mist (nigella) pods.

 Tiny deep red flowers.

 Walk 2.

Cyclamen 

taking no notice of the wire mesh fence.

Illuminated flowers.

The fuchsias danced in the breeze and bobbed around when bees landed on them.

I thought the leaves on the Judas tree were turning brown but looking closer I saw that they were seed pods not brown leaves.

 Thalictrum with dew drops.

Grass seed heads.

I caught sight of the gardener in the distance but he disappeared around the corner, cutting grass around the edges of the flowerbeds - the only evidence of his presence was the wheelbarrow.

Golden rain tree pods turning from pale green to bronzy gold.

Something else is happening to the new hydrangea - lilac thready explosions are bursting out.

Spiders web in the sunlight.

Another new plant - lovely colours.

I've hardly seen any fungi this year - other friends have seen loads.

Candyfloss tree (burning bush - my name for it)

Hydrangea

 Cosmos with tubular petals.

Orange flower - love the shaggy middle.

The usual sort of cosmos.

Hover fly.

Love the shadow! 

Pink Dahlia and pink cosmos with tubular petals. 

Feathery Cosmos leaves with other flowers growing through. 

Teasels.

Pinkness peeping out from deep in among the other grasses and flowers.

Thalictrum again.

Pokeberry leaves turning red.

Pokeberry berries! 

Abundance of berries. 

Beg red stripey leaves.

Hops 

Grapes.

More baby grapes forming.

Rose.

Thank you very much for joining me.