tree following April to May 2019

Apple Trwyn Mochyn, Borderland Garden, Wales

23 April 2019

This is a slow starter, which is perhaps a good thing in this somewhat unpredictable climate.  But by the end of April the flower buds are beginning to open.

And being visited by insect pollinators.

2 May 2019

A few days later at the start of May the leaves are appearing as well.

This is only the second year that this tree has bloomed and although there are only a few clusters of blossom I nevertheless counted 79 actual flowers.  It will be interesting to see how many apples make it to maturity.

Silver Birch, Woodland, Shropshire

Another slow starter – by mid April the silver birch was only sporting a few new leaves.

15 April 2019

 

But she is fully clothed in green this week and looks lovely!

7 May 2019

Tree in Old St Chads Churchyard, Shrewsbury

15 April 2019

This tree is another one of the year’s late risers, and like the apple and silver birch by mid April it is only just awakening.

Looking up through the branches you can see the young buds  swelling.

24 April 2019

But only eight days later after some warm weather it is turning a soft green all over.

And finally I am able to see enough to be able to identify this lovely tree – it is a whitebeam.

I did not know anything about whitebeams before but have discovered it is a British native tree, usually found wild in the south of the country, but also widely used as an ornamental across the country.  I have since noticed a whitebeam in full flower at the junction of Town Walls and Swan Hill in Shrewsbury and three more outside the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.  As well as others in gardens round the town and out in the countryside near the wood. I am thrilled to make the acquaintance of such a beauty!