Delightful Signs of Spring

Delightful Signs of Spring

Spring has arrived and it could not be clearer despite the damp and windy weather. The spring blossom begins in early March with cherry plum ( Prunus cerasifera) pictured above. One day nothing then suddenly a tree is filled with flower. Introduced from the near East in the late 1800s it is what is termed a neophyte ( a plant introduced after the 1500s) in botany although I would say a welcome addition to our flora. It has delicious fruit and follows on from the hazel (Corylus avellana) catkins pictured below left which start in February in Southern England. 

The blackthorn pictured above right is easily mistaken for cherry plum and I have found blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) to flower around two weeks after the cherry plum here. About the same time as blackthorn despite the strong winds and heavy rain the avenues of gold and silver catkins of the goat willow (Salix caprea) begin to adorn the green ways where I live. The gold is the male catkin and the silver the female which both grow on the same tree. There is something deeply satisfying about the tree blossom still reflecting the unfolding seasons from cherry plum to blackthorn to pussy willow. The banks of daffodils and primroses bright as sunshine and the beautiful winged people taking flight on warmer days.

Pictured below: Left to right gold and silver willow catkins.