After last week's rain, today was dry, if a bit grey.
lots of the other regulars were back today, in the dry!
beds in front of the Palm House have huge dahlias
and some thin spiky ones - like these ones.
these leaves looked frosty but it was the angle of the leaves in the light,
round bed at top of Broad Walk
these dahlias have been blooming for weeks
the planting in the round bed has really filled out
more of those leaves
heading down the Broad Week
there'd obviously been rain overnight, some things were wet
a bee disappeared into one of the agapanthas flowers as I hit the shutter.
but I was successful on the next one
far end of Broad Walk, round the other side of the beds.
crocosmia had definitely been rained on, or maybe watered from the sprinkler system
monkey puzzle tree
round the corner from here we took a path to
the newly opened Carbon Garden now all finished.
there were quite a few early visitors
close up
you may be able to enlarge to read some of the information boards
love the woven fencing
the mushroom feature in the centre is fabulous now it's completed
and the wood, being new, smelt delicious
there are several seating areas so we tested one out - which was extremely comfortable.
and a good viewing point for the bed opposite
round to the right of the photo above the planting continues to these very unusually coloured echinacea... gorgeous
round in the grass garden now
the waterlily pond is finally starting to come alive
it seems much healthier than last year
coleus in the veg garden
sunflowers in the evolution garden
still some roses left too
my favourite beds were looking very yellow - love the 4 heights (4 different beds, separated by paths so many different plant heights.)
the angle of the last shot above!
the rudbeckia are fab
and the solidago
we decided to head for breakfast
this is for Virginia who always reads and comments - well her husband, who wondered about the fountain in the pond.
we joined Patrick and Joyce and their friend - just avoiding the wasps who were numerous and wanting my carrot cake
before heading round the palm house parterre beds - the path along the statues for a different view point
one time I will take the photos of the information boards too!
it was warmer now so had shed my hoodie!
time for the waterlily house which had opened slightly early
I'm by the doorway!
water drops on the hibiscus by the outer door
the summer children's event, Oaklore, starts today and runs for a month.
there's various things on to encourage the protection of oak trees and animals that live in them.
we had a bit of a nosy ....
also Alice in Wonderland is back and they were preparing for a performance near the lake
which was looking very scummy!
the ducks didn't seem to mind, they got out and came for Kim's food and were covered in green slime!
2 coots chased one another across the lake but I was a bit slow on the shutter!
the ducks looked quite young and were very cute
this one was so pretty
after a short rest whilst feeding the ducks (and blooming pigeons) we headed off up the rest of the lake
the smoke tree (above) leaves were so pretty, shame I cut them off!
we headed to the woodland walk and sat on the bench. all of a sudden, Goldie emerged from round the seat we were on... coming from nowhere!
and I fed him
he won't stay still long though
after a while we carried on our way
hydrangea beds near the small pond
not quite sure where this one was from!
next stop. davies exploration house and the strawflowers
and daisy things
before crossing to the Temperate house
the verbena shows up nicely against the dark blue fencing
gerbera were infested with black fly
no doubt a natural predator will get them soon!
there were still some lotus flowers in the middle, though many had dropped petals
light through lotus leaf... nice pattern
this was a small flower on the window ledge
and then we made our way back to the exit (via the shop, to take advantage of the members 20% discount week!)
neither Kim nor I can resist "fluff" (dandelion in this case)
thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed staying dry today.
monkey puzzle tree 
the newly opened Carbon Garden now all finished.
you may be able to enlarge to read some of the information boards 
love the woven fencing
the mushroom feature in the centre is fabulous now it's completed 
and the wood, being new, smelt delicious
coleus in the veg garden
also Alice in Wonderland is back and they were preparing for a performance near the lake
which was looking very scummy!
the ducks didn't seem to mind, they got out and came for Kim's food and were covered in green slime!
gerbera were infested with black fly 
there were still some lotus flowers in the middle, though many had dropped petals 
light through lotus leaf... nice pattern
1 comment:
Oh that looks like a fun visit, I love the black petunia flower.
The new carbon garden looks fabulous I love the mushroom piece in the centre of it and the woven fence is stunning particularly with the pretty planting around it.
Thank you for the info on the water feature, hubby read it with great interest.
The wasps are supposed to have had a productive year with the warm winter and dry spring and early summer we are apparently going to have a lot irritating us as we head into autumn, I hope you managed to eat the carrot cake in peace.
I love that they do things for the kids over summer, but it always irritates me in the fact that us adults like fun stuff too!
And Alice in Wonderland a childhood favourite of mine.
Feeding Goldie - yay, he really is tame isn't he.
Hope you are having a good week.
Hugs
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