Coombe Wood (refreshing walk in rain and thunder)

After the extreme heat we've had over the past few days today's rain and rumbling thunder was very refreshing.

Love this colour! 

What a lot of silk tree flowers there are going to be! 

Echinops

The gardener has been working hard to cut back the plants that were overflowing the paths among the prairie planting.

So much to see here - it's not a very big space but I can spend ages wandering along the pathways looking at all the different plants, specially now that it's possible to walk along them again without fear of damaging the plants.

The thalictrum is quite a bit taller than me. 

I love the little bubble-like flowers against the robust echinaceas

The Golden Rain Tree is flowering. 

Although it was raining the bees didn't mind 

Glowing morning glory. The drops of water seem to change the colour.

This is a funny one! I haven't noticed it before. 

Wet Cosmos middle. 

Sumach flower.

Water droplets on leaves.

I like these starry seed pods. I wish I knew what the plant is! 

The hydrangea looked as if it was glowing.

Cornus - papery petals (bracts). The middle will go red eventually - no sign of that yet though.

Odd sunflower! 

Pink and pink! 

Can you see the little bit of yellow - right of centre? That's the gardeners safety mask (not sure if that's what it's called but it will have to do) He was cutting something at the back of the border.

Pale creamy trumpets all facing in the same direction. 

Golden sunflower. 

Very attractive to the bees. 

 Another strange sunflower. This one had a very peculiar middle and short curled petals.

It was raining quite hard now. I was glad of my umbrella to protect my camera - but I didn't mind getting wet - it was very nice to feel cool after the excessive heat of the last few days.

A couple more quick photos as I headed back to the gate.

It's all so colourful now - even on a dull day when it's raining!

Thank you very much for joining me. 

Coombe Wood in the rain Friday afternoon

My neighbour and I went to Coombe Wood in drizzly rain on Friday afternoon.

The flower beds by the entrance are full of colour. 

The prairie bed - can't really say prairie beds plural at the moment because the plants have grown so much and spilled all over the bark paths making them very difficult to walk along, and creating the impression of one big semi-circular bed.

Dotty buds of thallictrum (meadow rue). A friend from the art group I'm part of gave me a meadow rue the other day - with delightful open flowers on. The flowers at Coombe Wood aren't open yet.

The buds around this echinacea look like designs for buttons.

Looking through one variety to another. 

Acer seeds - how different they all are. This Acer has very green and widely spread wings. Others have red or pink wings and seeds - and some varieties have wings that are much more V shaped.

Hydrangea - these have come out a lot since my last visit.

In my thoughts hydrangea petals are oval or round - but not so! Look at the shape of these.

Wonderful variety in the middle - bobbles all exploding - all sorts of shades of green, pink and purple.

Sorry - more coming - I got a bit carried away here - I love the variety of shapes and colours, the smooth petals (bracts actually) around the edge with their jagged edges, and all that's going on in the middle.

And just when you think you've seen everything....

...the little bobbles in the middle of the bracts start erupting with stamens etc. as well.

A younger flower head just beginning to open. 

It was refreshing to be out in the rain after a couple of hot days.

This looked like a smoke bush but I thought they were red. Maybe there's a green variety as well?

Spindleberries not yet ready to do their dramatic display. 

Slender leaved acer with pinky seeds. 

Lovely cheerful sunflowers - heads bowed a little in the rain.

A damp bee still finding nectar/pollen. 

We noticed the sea holly stems - what a wonderful colour.

Nicotiana 

Enjoying the profusion of plants. 

Another damp bee. 

Teasels.

We were looking at the purple flowers when my neighbour noticed the bud - what an unexpected shape. So neatly pleated at the top!

My neighbour commented on how pretty the little flashes of pink looked peeping through the white flower.

Abutilon beginning to flower (the dark orange bell) - seen through purple and orange.

Love in a mist (nigella) pod. (Wonderful colour) 

Rain drenched bright red flower. 

Such bright orange - and the lemon ones nearby. 

Prety pink and white combination with sprays of blue.

A cascade of pinks and blues appear to be tumbling down this bank between the ferns.

We were very glad we braved the rain - it was a very enjoyable and refreshing walk.

Thank you very much for joining me.