Apple Blossom Time

Late April, early May is apple blossom time in Milton Country Park.

Apple Blossom 28 April 2015

I think young apple blossom, with its pink buds and light pink petals, is one of the prettiest tree blossoms.

Missing Images

 

Writing this blog in retrospect gives me the time to select and organise my photographs to tell a story.  Of course, to do this I have to have taken the right pictures in the first place; which, in turn, means I have to know the story I want to illustrate at the time of taking the photograph.  Unfortunately, I do not have enough knowledge of how changes in the park unfold to ensure I have got all the pictures I need.

In the case of apple blossom, looking through my photographs, I found one unsatisfactory image from 17th April.  This showed one insignificant tree coming into bloom.  In retrospect, I would like to have chronicled the build up of the blossom over the following three weeks. But I  just do not have the pictures.

Fen Road Entrance 28 April 2015

What I can show is that by end of the month, the blossom was anything but insignificant as this huge tree by the Fen Road entrance shows.

Main Entrance 4 May 2015

One thing that is quite noticeable with the fruit blossom is that it is not all at its best at the same time.  The first tree that I saw in mid April had already lost all its blossom by the time I took this photograph.  One factor in this may be the fragility of the blossom: one heavy shower of rain almost completely stripped one tree of all its flowers.

The trees on the drive from the main entrance are amongst the most eye catching and also the latest to come to flower.  This one was captured in early May.

In the Woods

 

Jack-by-the-Hedge in Woods by A14 30 April 2015

The woods and the path at the southern boundary of the park by the A14 are also painted white.  Here jack-by-the-hedge covers the floor of these woods.  Having walked through the woods (without a camera) I thought there was one long vista of jack-by-the-hedge.  When I came to photograph it, my memory was false as thickets of shrubs interrupted the view.

Comfrey in Woods by A14 28 April 2015

Equally prominent in the woods, and on the path alongside, is comfrey.  

There is an interesting contrast in the longevity of the blossoms of these two plants.  Jack-by-the-hedge quickly lost its impact as the flower heads turned to seed.  On the other hand, there was still a significant number of flowers  left on the comfrey well into June.

Long Lasting Blue

 

Borage by Children's Play Area 20 May 2015

 By the time I took this photograph, the apple blossom was finished.  However, I have included a picture of borage as this particular clump was already flowering before the end of April - ie when the apple blossom was out.  Unlike the apple blossom, the borage blooms seemed to get more and more prominent as the month went on.

Horse Chestnut

 

Old School Lane Entrance 8 May 2015

 As far as I am aware, there are only two horse chestnut trees in the park.  This magnificent specimen guards the path from Old School Lane.

Bluebell Surprise

 

Hall's Pond 30 April 2015

Another plant I did not know grew in the park - bluebells. I found a few small clumps of them growing by the seat on the western edge of Hall's pond.  From the clumps, I guess this was not the first year they have grown here.  Shows what you see when you really look.

A Longer Post Than Normal

 

This is a longer post then usual.  I have aimed at four to six images per post.  This is an arbitrary limit and I am keen that the blog is reactive as possible to what is happening in the park.  In this case,   I felt I needed to extra images to give a full portrait of the park at the beginning of May.

I have also added an about page to the blog to give the background to the project. 

NEXT: MAY