By Urbanite
Leicestershire,
United Kingdom 
Tree and flower id please.
Spent a very pleasant few hours at Leicester Botanical Gardens yesterday and, as is the way of these places, the things that don't have labels on are the things you don't know the names of.
The tree is really annoying - three of us stood around, all knowing that we should know what it is. Fourth person came up and asked if we knew what it was because she'd seen one in another part of the garden and it didn't have a label.
The flower is interesting (to me) - horrible coltsfoot like leaves that would make me want to pull it up but then it had these lovely flower spikes that were wafting in the slightest breeze.
i've swapped the flower picture for one with more leaves
2 Sep, 2013
Answers
I haven't put up the pic of the little plot (4'x3') stuffed full of cacti and succulents for fear of provoking aeonium envy.
2 Sep, 2013
Could the tree be an alder? the flowers look like heuchera but I can't see the leaves very well.
2 Sep, 2013
Snap, Pennyfarthing.
2 Sep, 2013
Thanks for that - I'll see if the other pictures show the flower leaves any better. The leaves weren't at all nice but I can see that it could be an original heuchera rather than one of the fancy varieties. But honestly if I saw it growing in my garden without the flowers I'd be pulling it up.
3 Sep, 2013
We went there last summer, its lovely...I was suprised with the cacti growing outside in the open
2 Sep, 2013