LITTLE ARTY JOURNEYS: Monday Morning Coombe Wood walk. Camellias and Magnolias and a bonus walk.

A dull morning but the sun popped out a couple of times.

The plants in the flower beds by the entrance are filling out and the tulip leaves are showing.

I caught a glimpse of the gardener - clearing leaves.

A splash of bright yellow.

I still have trouble remembering that these blue flowers are Glory of the snow - not Treasures of the Snow (that's a book title!)

Delicate primroses.

Prairie beds looking very neat with everything cut back and mulched and the bark paths renewed.

Magnolia flowers - many having burst from their brown cases.

I like the way the pale borders of the outer petals sit against the darker petals underneath.

Golden Rain tree leaves beginning to grow.

Continuing to walk around the prairie beds. It won't be long before the plants are spilling over the neat paths!

Showers of creamy bells hang from the tree, over the bench.

This was just stubble a few days ago - now springing to life with arrow-head shaped variegated leaves.

Fluff caught on orange berberis (?) flowers.

Delicate flowers

Leaves and buds.

More showers of bells - different from the previous ones.

I wonder where all the pine cones have gone. There were heaps of them around this mound not very long ago.

A few magnolia flowers have opened - they seemed to float in the air in front of this tree trunk.

All sorts of overlapping branches - and buds in abundance.

Camellias.

The tiny leaves on the Candy Floss tree are more obvious now.

More Camellias.

What a contrast between the inner and outer petals - single flat white outer petals and a pale pastel lemon riot of inner petals.

I got a bit carried away with these - I don't remember noticing these before.

Magnolias - opening

A little further along - these are huge buds and I think the flowers will be purple if I remember rightly.

Forsythia

Tree peony buds.

Tiny flowers with strong sweet scent.

Often by this time of year the old hydrangea flowers are skeletons - but not yet this year.

Deep burgundy leaves unfolding.

I was looking at the flower buds when I noticed what looked like insect eggs from a distance.

Looking closer - they don't look like eggs.

More like lichen!

Star magnolia

The beginning of the bleeding heart plant (Decentra). Amazing red stems and pale green leaves.

Through the hedge I could see people on the fallen branch again in spite of the taped off area.

Glory of the snow (blue)

Ornamental Quince - crazy middles!

Primula

Above my car in the car park.

BONUS walk....

I hadn't been back home for long after Monday morning's walk when a message arrived from a friend, asking me if I'd like to meet her at Coombe Wood on Tuesday. Of course!!!

On Tuesday morning the ducks were on the pond. I haven't seem them for quite a long time.

A duck was swimming into the yellow reflection of an ambulance. (There had been a collision near the junction of Conduit Lane and Coombe Lane and an ambulance was parked next to the fence.)