Coombe Wood with Angela

My cousin Angela takes regular trips to Coombe Wood in Croydon (even more than I go to Kew)  and it's somewhere I haven't been for loads of years, since I moved away from the area (and from when I had a car)  As it has been far too long since we met up, I suggested going today and luckily she was free.

The forecast for today was the worst of the weekend, but the only day we could both do.  As luck would have it, the rain stayed away until after I got home, and we had a great time.   Here are my photos from today (well, some of them!)

 Clusters of tiny flowers - we're neither of us very good plant identifiers...

 peeling paint on a little hut

beautiful tree bark and shapes in the trunks

 clusters of hanging flowers - from a distance they look like catkins, but they're not

 more delicate little blooms

 and rotting tree trunks. allowed to lie where they fall.

 and curious holes in the bark of a tree where...

 this amazing bracket fungus grows

 I remember scrambling up these steps, they're harder work than they look, so we left them... Angela's grandchildren have no difficulty but they weren't with us!

 hellebores, going over but still so pretty

 more hellebores

 the veins on the back are so pretty too.

 lacy skeleton leaves

 and water droplets in the centre of these clusters

people leave all sorts in this hole in the bark, this time some hellebore blooms in a little puddle of water

 and this tree was so wonderful...

 branches going off in all directions, and will so many different colours and mossy stretches

 this is horizontal, but can't rotate it again, darn it!

and this roof is covered is the most gorgeous moss

 euphorbia, so pretty with its bracts (I think)

 and tiny rock plants

 more moss

 and even on a dully cloudy day, the pond at the entrance has beautiful reflections.

some bullrushes, nearly finished now, but so fluffy!

Had a lovely walk, and a great catch up, putting the world to rights - hope to do it again soon, Angela!  Thanks for lunch too..

You can see Angela's blog here 

Cold, cloudy, but blooming lovely - and very pink!

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!