Mid April

The amazing flowering cherry outside the back door is perfect today. Breathtaking.

Delicate blossoms by the thousand, some not quite open and deep pink, others fully open, fluffy and pale. Viewed in the evening light the blossom looks more lilac than pink.

The garden looks sensational. The overall picture ( through sheer luck with weather, working conditions and spare time) is slightly more managed than usual, and full of colour. Everywhere is bursting with newness and more surprises every day.

The Golden Hornet crab apples on either side of the path look as if they’re covered in melting snow; pure white blossom, full of bees. A good year for blossom and hopefully their tiny golden apples will appear later on for the blackbirds to enjoy into the winter.

A whole hedge, a whole group of trees can seem to go from winter to spring in the space of a couple of hours, given a burst of warm sunshine. There is so much blossom just on the point of opening up, so much lush new growth , and so far no wind to spoil anything.

April has the wow factor in the garden. A month of transformative growth.