Strong colours/contrasts at Coombe Wood

An enjoyable walk with another friend, who spotted several things I might not have noticed.

The little bell flowers and the new vivid red growth against a stunning blue sky

A cluster of magenta camelias

Azalea buds and leaf shoots

looking closer

Bright green new acer leaves

Tree peonies unfolding

Old and new growth - hydrangea

Bleeding hearts

Pink blossom

Tulip open to the sunshine

Sunlight shining through the tulip petals

Marsh marigolds enjoying the sunshine

Thank you very much for joining me. 

Coombe Wood - a gentle stroll with a friend

Yesterday I met a friend I haven't seen for quite a while and we had a good catch up over a light lunch followed by a gentle stroll in Coombe Wood.

The helebores are developing some fabulous seed pods. Some had four pods, some had six and some had eight - I didn't notice any with odd numbers of pods.

 Tiny yellow flowers with curled back petals

Yellow Fritillaries

My friend was extremely good at noticing several things I hadn't noticed. She spotted a snakes head fritillary which I would have missed. We both tried to photograph it but unfortunately my photos were all blurred - I hope it's still there next time - I'll try again next time I'm there.

Baby Korean pine cones

Little clouds of white flowers 

Lovely to see the busy bees

It's very easy to walk by and not notice these tiny strange structures.

 Staying small scale - these delicate yellow flowers could so easily be missed.

Harder to miss these though.

Tulips

Grape hyacinths

Looking closer at the ferny fronds - they're covered in tiny hairs

Tulips and orange fritillaries

Each time I see the euphorbias I think surely that must be the last structure to grow on top of the last one - but then they produce yet another strange construction on top of that.

Not a well focused close up but a breeze was blowing.

Thank you very much for joining me again. 

Coombe Wood yesterday morning & Erosion-bundle update

Another magical walk with wonderful scents and plenty of changes to notice since my last visit. 

Fortunately I couldn't get very near to the skunk cabbage - with a name like that it's unlikely to be one of the plants with a wonderful scent.

Marsh marigolds and skunk cabbage

Tiny white intricate structures

 A mass of raspberry coloured blooms

Tiny white flowers with a blush of pink

Stronger pink

Delicate pink star-like magnolias

 A bee heading for the large pink magnolia flowers

Magnolia flower structure inside

Lily of the valley shoots popping up under the trees

  Deep russet coloured acer and white magnolia

Wonderful red new growth next to showers of bell shaped flowers

    The camelias are still looking good

Rhododendrons in the sunshine

 Pink and white magnolias

Forsythia

White blossom

 New shoots on the tree peonies 

A red stemmed plant has been intriguing me as it has unfolded over the last few weeks. At last I know what it is - a bleeding heart plant.

 A few of the tulips are out - not many yet 

but a lot more are on their way

 The ferns are beginning to uncurl

   Tiny tulips 

A mass of citrus colours 

Bulrush seeds are still dispersing

EROSION BUNDLE PROJECT UPDATE

I had been disappointed with the results of my erosion bundle when I opened it at the beginning of April. On Tuesday I got round to trying the quicker method. The preparation takes time but the dyeing is quite quick. 

I made three bundles

• rusty nails wrapped in white muslin and tied with string
• a rusty door handle wrapped in white muslin and tied with string
• rusty nails, keys, a seive and a trowel stitched in place in an old white pillow case

These were soaked in tea for a couple of hours 

then left to dry overnight

This is the pillowcase with the items stitched in place

and the results when everything was removed

It was much quicker and resulted in stronger colour than the 3 months in the garden version. Now I need to decide what to do with the dyed fabric.

If you've read this far well done and thank you very much for joining me.