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!
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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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 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.
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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.
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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.
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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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