Another Day Of Only One Post,

as Diana had Monday off,

 and as usual I took way too many photographs! so we were out in the car, through the park to the entrance to the main road,

we arrived,

 

at Coombe Wood, 

before going into the gardens a look at the pond at the front of the grounds,

although difficult to see a couple of koi carp were slowly making their way around the pond, 

a sign I always like to see, 

having visited many parks in the area it is unfortunate that a few inconsiderate dog owners have made it bad for the majority, but there it is, 

we were hoping to see some rhodendrens in flower, some of the ones in the garden at Foxgrove Lodge were already putting on a good show, 

it was a tad cold, so we had wrapped up warm,

these looked so nice dwarf daffodils, just 6 or 7 inches tall,

we passed the first green, the 'mental' grass, 

dry and brown, I should mention many years ago when we first came to the UK Diana saw some grasses in boxes as decorations outside of a restaurant, Diana asked what they were, I replied "ornamental grasses", Diana misheard me, so for years she thought there were 'mental grasses', and the name has stuck,

through the yew arch,

and a look at the first snowdrops here, 

I had to take a close-up,

and here it is, 

in the distance the house that the original owners lived in,

we made our way towards the rhodendrens and pine trees, but first a look at a few flowers in this bed,

hellebores, 

onwards, 

to these flowers, but not rhododendrons but camellias, 

time for a pose,

as we then continued walking, 

more camellias, 

the rhododendrons were conspicuous by their absence, 

we made our way uphill, 

it does not look it, but it is quite steep,

at the top, 

I made a short video at the top of the hill, 

Diana in a small hide that someone had made, 

and a video that Diana made of it,

we started downhill,

myself in the lead, 

looking back to Diana,

on her way down,

we have visited Coombe Wood many times, if you would lie to see the gardens at different times of the year have a look here, and keep hitting the 'Older Posts' button at the bottom right of the page to see all of them, above I was trying to remember where I stood, 

when some years ago I took this photograph looking at the steps in the autumn,

back to level ground, some more hellebores, 

this group in full flower, unlike the rhododendrons, we both agreed we were about a month early for them, except, 

this one, 

the only rhododendrons in all of the gardens in flower!

so there it is, 'we will be back!',

we made our way past the green with its boarder of mental grass,

we were thinking of have a coffee in what was the old stables, 

but decided against it as we had one more place to visit,

but we did have a look at the stream that feeds the pond,

but there was hardly any water flowing down it, unlike yesterday at Crystal Palace where everything was waterlogged, 

on the way out Diana spotted these, 

figs ripening, 

back into the car, 

for a 25 minute drive or so,

into, 

and through the village of Rushmore Hill,

and into the countryside,

in the summer time,

the leaves on the trees forming a canopy over the road,

we are here! at Coolings Garden Centre, 

we made our way to the car park,

which for a Monday was really crowded compared to our previous visits here, 

a quick pose,

and we were inside,

where to look first?

everywhere looking like a tropical garden,

so many colours to choose from,

some orchids,

succulents,

or cactuses?

not to mention air plants were all here,

many years ago I had one of these, 

it is Natal lily or bush lily, (Clivia miniata),

but I have to say after many years it was huge, 15 or 20 flowers on the stem, but one thing, every year despite me treating it, a infection of mealybug always appeared, I could never seem to wipe them out, 

but I have to say for some reason the spiderworts, (Tradescantia), in my care never suffered for the same bugs, 

one of my favourites, insectivorous plants, my own attempts of growing them from seed, whilst easy when we were living in Thailand, has so far not been very successful, 

moving on, it is nearly Easter!

so lots of bunnies, 

and Diana has a new best friend! Mr. Owl,

we had a look at the garden ornaments, 

made of tin and then painted, 

before we went outside, 

on the left, some mental grasses,

a quick pose, 

we then looked at some garden ornaments, 

these two,

apparently hand crafted,

if the price is anything to go by, but we both agreed if we had a garden and wanted a fairy like ornament, 

we would go for something like this, 

the price a tad more reasonable,

but hold everything, a change of mind, it has got to be the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland!

I could not help but notice the number of plants that had red berries, 

before our coffee and sandwich, we went inside one of the glasshouses, on Diana's left lots of plants for the salad and vegetable garden,

also a riot of colour, 

from tables laden down, 

with primroses and primulas,

these looking so different, 

with their, 

bi-coloured flowers, 

so unusual,

also here, 

lots of bulbs and seeds to choose from,

by now we were a tad hungry, 

so past the telephone box, that actually has a defibrillator inside of it, 

table found sandwiches ordered, 

and our coffee arrived, 

I have to say the place was packed,

but we were lucky, 

we managed to snag a table with a bit of a view of the garden by the restaurant,

our sandwiches arrived, a cheese and ham toastie for Diana,

a egg mayonnaise for myself,

just what the doctor ordered, but at £24.00 for 2 coffees and 2 sandwiches we both thought that prices had risen by quite a bit, but then nothing stays the same forever,

back outside, 

we passed the hardy palms below which,

there were more shrubs with red berries,

and then some from a different type of bush,

bringing a nice bit of colour, 

into an otherwise grey day,

there was a special on potted Christmas tees, 50% off, 

back inside, 

I weakened, 

due to my total lack of success, so far, of raising a Venus fly trap from seed, 

Diana took pity on me and bought me one, oh the agony of choice!

decision made, 

and we were on our way home,

through the twisting country roads, 

we were soon driving past some of the houses in the park before arriving home, where it was feet up for a coffee before I found a home for our new Venus fly trap, 

and there he is, 

I placed home in a saucer of RO water, tap water is too hard for them and kills them off, I just hope they remembered that at the nursery!, I placed him next to the propagator with the seeds in, we then watched another really interesting programme about fishing of all things, with Robson Green as the host and traveling fisherman, this time he visited Japan, I have to say even if you are not interested in fishing it is a fascinating series to watch, both Diana and myself thoroughly enjoyed it,

 the series is called Extreme Fishing with Robson Green, if you have time give it a try, after our evening meal it was feet up for a BattleBots before a film, 

tonight The Outfit, what a wonderful captivating film, totally unexpected as the plot twists and turns, the film centres on a mild mannered quiet tailor, (don't call him that, he is a cutter), almost all of the film takes place in his shop, as he quietly makes suits for the local gangster family, one of the few groups in the area that can afford his bespoke suits, all is well until, well if you want a treat of a film watch it, both Diana and myself were totally captivated by it, 

we rounded off the evening with a film we had watched before, The Pale Blue Eye, starring Christian Bale, but the star who stole the film was undoubtedly Harry Melling, the film was a real gothic treat centred around West Point Academy in 1830, and a welcome back to watch Harry Melling who played Cadet Edgar Allan Poe, and had as it happens an uncanny resemblance to the poet and writer, Harry Melling was also in one of my favourite western movies, The Ballard of Buster Scruggs, you may also remember him as Dudley Dursley, the fat boy in the Harry Potter movies, after which we were off to bed.