Blossom time …..

Blink and you’ll miss it!

We’ve planted many trees since moving here, trying to plant sensibly for as much interest as possible from each tree. Spring blossom is important as is bark texture and obviously autumn colour. At this time of year though we are on tenterhooks hoping that the bitterly cold wind and frost will leave the blossom untouched. So far so good though and as we head into May most of the ornamental blossom has been unscathed by adverse weather. If anything we have had a better display than ever from many of the trees. The Amelanchier blossom is normally very fleeting but this year it lasted a little longer, although as ever I find it very hard to take a decent photograph of it!

Cherry blossom has been stunning as ever, in particular Prunus Shirotae which was one of the first trees we planted when we moved here. What a good choice! It is a spreading tree with the most beautiful white semi-double flowers. Always eagerly anticipated and enjoyed whilst in flower. In fact as the flowers drop the petals look rather lovely on the lawn. Maybe not so good when it sticks to the dogs’ fur and is then brought into the house, but then you can’t have everything!

My favourites at the moment though are the crab apples. Malus Princeton Cardinal is an ornamental crab and absolutely stunning. It has been in flower for weeks, looks wonderful, has a great scent and is full of bees. On the other side of the orchard are three culinary crab apples. We have Malus Profusion, Malus John Downie and Malus Gorgeous. The blossom on each is slightly different in colour with John Downie being completely white and the other two tinged with pink. All are scented and full of bees. The other apple trees are so far in tight bud and given the cold windy weather at the moment it’s probably just as well. Hopefully this year we will have a decent crop.

Wisteria growing along the South/West house walls is just coming into bloom. I’m relieved we have flowers as I took charge of pruning it again in January, I seem to have got the hang of pruning for flowers! At the moment though the very chilly weather seems to be holding it back, although plenty of flowers are out it isn’t quite as abundant as usual.

April was a very dry month here but now we’ve had a decent amount of rain, the waterbutts are filling up and I’m looking forward to a bit more warmth and sunshine and the flower beds bursting into life.