Rhododendron

I had good intentions this morning of making the most of the sunny weather with a visit to Syon Park in London ... but by the time I had done the washing, vacuumed Mum's tapestries (which I have foolishly offered to clean for her) and generally pottered around, I 'd lost the enthusiasum and instead went "round the corner" to Bagshot and the open space behind the relatively new supermarket.

The land was originally owned by a nursery, and one of their specialities were rhododendron.  They used to run tractors to view the stock plants at this time of year, and you could see the blaze of colour from the A30.  Today the plants are badly overgrown and neglected, but still manage a bit of a display.

Personally, the flowers are a little flamboyant for my taste - however I really liked this sample with it's orchid-like markings, and I suspect this was one of the "premier" plants originally.