A few more spring flowers

Thank you to those who produced a wonderful crop of spring loveliness in last week's competition. If you didn't see them do have a look - there are some really nice ones! I too went out there to see what I could find and I went to the family seat of the 1st Baron, Lord Iliffe whose home at Allesley Hall, Coventry was donated to the city for the enjoyment of its residents. It includes Allesley Park which is sensitively managed as both parkland and wildlife reserve.

The drive to the house is what one might expect. Half a mile of die straight roadway bounded by a double row of mature trees on each side and which is massively planted with spring bulbs. Unfortunately many of these trees were elms which were decimated by Dutch Elm Disease in the late 1970s. The surviving beeches and sweet chestnuts tower above the replacements. I can recall wondering if I would ever see these mature? Well, 50 years on, here is one side of the drive today.









Crocuses are so very often photographed en-masse due to the magnificence of their impact. They do have impact by themselves, however.









And it isn't all bulbs - this hedging plant is rarely seen today but 'flowering currant' was commonplace when I was a youngster.



Which brings us to blossoming trees of which there are a lot. I will make a separate collection of these quite soon. The delay is because not all of them are flowering yet but when they do .... !
Here is an early plum tree to be going on with.



These were taken with a K1 and most with the wonderful Takumar 55mm f1.8 which can be as sharp as you wish or awash with bokeh. This particular one exhibits every sign of a great lens - it is worn, dented and battered from constant use but its glass is pristine!

Spring beckons. Warmth. Better times. Nature in rebirth. Excellent images especially the daffs, but also the close ups. Plus an informative narrative to provide context. What's not to like? Great post.

Thank you for those kind words. I am happy that you enjoyed the pictures and more so that people in times past have created and provided these lovely sights for everyone's pleasure.

Always lovely to see a spring selection - the out of focus areas in that last image are amazing. Shows why you should always have some old glass in the collection

Methinks Spring is definitely here. I went to Harcourt Arboretum at Nuneham Courtenay last week to look at trees and the Daffs were all out, thousands of them. Sorry no photos as I`m still getting used to my Pentax K10D clone, a Samsung GX10. Different to my Sony cameras, but I`ll get there. - bought as I wanted to try something different, and the GX10 + 2 lenses was less than a K10D body, mmm.

Great little camera - very capable and that tie-up with Samsung was short lived but productive. Look forward to seeing some photos in the future - also interested to hear the story behind the username - I'm guessing X300 as a first camera ?

Great photos, I was not aware of this 55mm but it looks like in the hands of a skilled photographer it is an excellent lens!

Do get on E bay and look for a Takumar 55mm f1.8. It is a magnificent lens.

I have one on my Pentax SV, it is a terrific lens.