The beehives at Benslow in their glade of blossom. The British landscape bursts with white blossom in the springtime.

 The first to flower is Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera) in early March [see entry dated 21st. March]. Later in the month Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) shines brightly into April as seen above. The two species look very similar. A few weeks after that comes Hawthorne (Crataegus monogyna) sometimes called the Mayflower.

 All three were commonly used to form hedges between fields. Those we see in the landscape are often in surviving hedgerows or survivals of hedgerows that are gone. Left to their own devices they grow from large shrubs into small trees. 

 When I was a few years old I was toddling through Ransoms Recreation Ground with my father. I saw a man with a fork on the adjoining allotments and I asked my father what he was doing. "He's digging his allotment" he replied. Today there was another man digging on those same allotments- it was me.

 Every autumn I plant a few more bulbs of Erythronium Pagoda in the shady 'woodland' area of my back garden in London. They're accumulating nicely, forming a gentle drift. The flowering is brief but beautiful.