Flora

Once again, our weather seems to be flick-flacking between Winter and Summer every few days.  This morning, following the cold, wet and windy last few days, we woke to sunshine and rapidly rising temperatures.  So, we set out for a longer walk around Shipley Park, towards Osborne's Pond and Shipley Hill.
I have mentioned the Rhododendrons on the hill quite a lot lately, but I couldn't resist the chance to grab another couple of pictures of them as we passed the Nottingham Lodge.  The scent from these flowers was simply sublime.

Close to this particular large-flowered beauty, a deep red variety shone from the darker undergrowth with a richness of colour which almost defies belief.

High above these gorgeous shrubs, a few very late flowering cherry trees are still showing colour, particularly when the sun shines through the leaves and petals, forming a wonderful, floral ceiling above us.

As we turned homeward, my eye was caught by the brilliant blue of a patch of Bugle flowers (Ajuga reptans).  The Bugle flower is a particular favourite of the Fritillary butterflies, but we didn't see any of those this morning - sadly!  But, just look at the blue of these little flowers.  Surely they can stand up to any of the most exotic flowers we know of, despite their diminutive size.