Ilkeston - The Colour Of Spring
w/e 10 April 2005
All this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490

Falling temperatures, a bitterly cold north wind and even snow flurries towards the end of the week reminded us that winter has not yet had its final say but hopefully the milder conditions forecast for the coming few days herald the start of spring proper. I did manage however during one of the more amenable spells last week to spend a little time in Victoria Park. It was even warm enough to sit awhile upon this bench (below) and, before you ask, it was that shape before I sat on it!

Park Bench

From the bench I had this panoramic view of the park with a host of those famous daffodils cascading down the slope from the bandstand to form a partial backdrop to the formal flower beds directly in front.

View From The Bench

The flowers cut a colourful swathe through the green of the grass and while the temperatures may still be hanging on to their wintry values, the colours are most definitely of spring. I decided to take a closer look.
Multicoloured Flower Bed

First of all I directed my attention to the formal beds where pansies in a multitude of colours were interspersed by hyacinths of a delicate peach shade.
Blue & Green

Overnight rain had splashed earth on to the underside of the leaves of these tiny blue flowers that nestled beneath some of the trees in the park. I am no horticultural expert but I believe these are called Spring Squill.
Black & White

Not all the colours in the park were planted in the ground and among all the hues and shades I "spotted" one of our canine friends in good old black and white. There were in fact three of these dogs but one of them was rather over friendly and left an impression of his nose on the lens of my camera (see right) which I did not see until later. The above image therefore has been heavily cropped.
Mainly Pink"

Blossom on the trees too added to the colourful display and although there are some green leaves in the background this one is mainly pink.
Yellow

Not to be outdone by the flowers, dogs and trees, the shrubs were also putting on a good display, this forsythia being among the leading contenders.
Orange

And finally another shrub. This bushy plant has tiny holly-like leaves less than 1" (2.5cm) long and at first glance, what look like orange berries. Closer inspection however revealed that they were not in fact berries but small flowers. A couple of them can be seen opening up in the centre of this picture. I thought that the shrub could be a berberis and a number of people have now written to confirm that this is so. My thanks to them.

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