Spring blossom illuminating the countryside. We have pre-industrialised farming to thank for that. Stock proof hedges were created with native species like Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) and Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna). Both are viciously thorny and their flowering overlaps somewhat. Blackthorn flowers then comes into leaf, Hawthorn comes into leaf then flowers.

 Barbed wire made stock proof hedges redundant. In many areas the patchwork of small fields and mixed agriculture was grubbed out for prairies of arable monoculture. Even so the remnants of hedgerows continue being beautiful and vital for wildlife.