Kings Heath Park Trees

There is a permanent section in the website about noteworthy trees but at the moment there is a lot happening with trees blooming and going into seed in what seems like the blink of an eye. I’ve already written about the chocolate-smelling tree, Azara microphylla. That has well and truly finished flowering now. In late […]

In March I took some pictures of some small red flowers on a tree. There were so many they made the whole tree appear red against the sky. There were no leaves at that time and I had no idea what the tree was. These are female flowers made up of a stigma (top), style […]

What makes a walk in the park a good walk? The sunshine helps a great deal but some people do like to walk in the rain – even sing in the rain. Personally I prefer the sunshine, whether its cold or warm I don’t mind, as long as it’s bright. A bright blue sky with […]

There’s a tree on the bank of the pond that is worth keeping an eye on at the moment. It grows on the tennis court side of the pond but leans over and spreads its branches out over the pond in the typical fashion of a Weeping willow (Salix babylonica). It is busily producing catkins […]

It’s just over two weeks since I took this photograph of the Campbell’s magnolia near the white house. I missed the opening of the first blooms – I must have been sleep-walking as I passed this by every day. Anyway, I finally woke up and noticed it the other day, covered in flowers; some past […]

My wife and I went for our usual walk in the park this morning; it was a lovely sunny day. There were lots of people out enjoying the fresh air and sunshine, chasing pokemon and training their dogs; just regular folk making good use of the local park. We couldn’t help but notice all the […]

Have you ever been to a quiz where you’re asked what the largest human organ is? Depending on which authority / point of view you take, one expected answer is ‘the skin’. The only reason I mention it is that it is often overlooked as such a large part of our bodies – apart from […]

We may not have thrown off the gloom of winter just yet but there is colour in the park. Walking up past the tennis courts towards the white house there is a large Camellia bush in bloom with lovely pale pink flowers. Turn left and in the area by the picnic tables there are two […]

Over the past several weeks my wife and I have notice a pleasant scent wafting through the air at various places in the park. The source is these pretty pink flowers and we think they are winter flowering vibernum.

I’ve noticed these flowers, on my morning walk, just recently and wondered what they are. I haven’t noticed any leaves on the tree just yet – it is still only February. Web searches have, so far, failed to produce any answers. The books I have that are guides to British trees don’t take into account […]