Spring Snowflake

 CanCarrier recently blipped the Botanics, which stirred us to book out own visit, now that the youngest children are back in school and the gardens would be quieter.

I usually pay a visit to admire the witch hazels but found, to my dismay, that the hybrid specimens have been moved, along with the azaleas, leaving a couple of the mature species. In fact, blossom was in relatively short supply - clumps of snowdrops, a few scattered crocus, hellebores and a sweep of winter aconites (extra collage) and a nice clump of spring snowflake (Leucojum) (main picture) were all I managed to photograph. We did not cover the entire garden so presumably missed some special display or were just a little too early.

However, the day was perfect for the walk, with sunshine and blue sky, a cool wind, as is usual on the north side, but quite warm in the sun. There was a wide age-range of other visitors and we kept out of each others' way as far as possible. And, apart from parking charges, it 's all free.