Spring Flowers

It's fast becoming a wonderful year for early Spring flowers.  I have mentioned quite a few of them already, but I'm sure I will be forgiven for banging on about them a bit more.  Our walk this morning for instance, took us once again, up Shipley Hill to look at the displays of blossom to be seen there.  I mentioned the Maple trees a few days ago and their pale, lime-green flowers...

Well, while these are undeniably, quite splendid, another member of the same family - the Acers - is starting to flower on Shipley Hill and, while its flowers are not nearly as numerous, what they lack in number is more than made up for in colour.  These are from a cultivated Acer, this time a 'cut-leaved' variety known as Acer palmatum dissectum.

Below all these trees and shrubs, the small, native Lesser Celandines (Ranunculus ficaria) are blooming beautifully while their leaves carpet the woodland floor around the tree trunks.

Lastly for today, another cultivated plant and one which was tumbling over the Suffragette Wall close to the Derby Lodge Tea Room.  This delicate-looking shrub is a Spirea, commonly known as Bridal Wreath and its flowers were both numerous and beautiful.