I woke before 6 this morning and the sun was up and the light beautiful... by the time I left it was cloudy, and I discovered, very cold! But, Kew had tweeted a photo of the magnolias in bloom so off I went.
as you can see, very cloudy, and the blooms are really only just coming out for the most part.
but they look gorgeous, and the variety and shades of pink - even on the same shrub - are amazing.
I know my friends Lesley and Sam are not fond of pink, but they do enjoy my trips to Kew, so I hope they'll forgive me...
.. sharing quite so much of the pink!
Buds starting to unfurl...
I've taken shots like this in previous years with bright blue skies behind (may be will again this year, too)
and I had to do a fair bit of branch holding and one-handed photography as the wind was swirling the buds around - and has blown lots of the petals off too, leaving the grass beneath looking as if it were covered with confetti at a wedding
but, like I say, the pinks are fabulous. Name your Fresco shade, Paperartsy fans!
the branches are covered in lichen too, so pretty!
but it wasn't only magnolias, the hellebores were looking gorgeous too!
I only discovered this flower bed full of them because I noticed a man with a very long lens on his camera, and went to see what he was studying so intently - so glad I did!
again, a great variety of colours.
great swathes of them, they were lovely!
and finally, on my cold way out, I passed this fabulous tree trunk.
Was glad to get home out of the cold - stayed much shorter time than normal (partly to get home for the rugby) - but got some great shots,
and of course, the sun tried to come out as I left...
but I was too cold to stay longer, and it didn't last long, either!
