If I had to pick a favourite blossom it would have to be crab apple blossom. The dainty pink and white petals which decorate the branches each spring are ever so pretty. It's a girly tree for it's flowers even if it's fruit are looked down on. Here's an interesting fact: You can't plant an apple seed and expect to grow a tree of that variety. This is terribly confusing to me but the pollination essentially crossbreeds the fruit (even though the fruits are all the same on one tree?!!) So by planting that seed it's pot-luck what you end up with. Also, most 'crab apple' trees aren't. Only ones with super tiny fruit are true crab apples. The rest are just hybrids. Quite often from discarded apple cores on roadsides.
To get a true breed you use cuttings from the correct tree and graft it on to the host stem. It's amazing stuff, especially the clever people who use one host tree and multiple varieties grow off it.
We delved into apples longer than I anticipated there but this post is a few snaps from a walk in April. We saw an impressive dandelion patch.
Care to have a count up, anyone?
I thought this high up large nest could be that of the buzzard.
When your path takes you through the jet of an irrigator. Fortunately it was a rotating jobby which allowed us to make a well-timed dash for it and avoided the soaking. They are ridiculously powerful so don't play around them!
Two lovely little ground elders. It's everywhere but deserves praise for it's striking colour.
And less appealing chickweed.
Below, Marsh marigold! It's not often I see this.
Pink forget-me-nots. Ooooh fancy.
Drifts of colour to see.
Hawthorns are caked in blooms. They play it safe with late blossoms.
Horse chestnut spires out.
Hi, my name's Sophie and I take hundreds of pictures of weeds.
Take care,
Sophie
