Primed ready to go…

Here’s my pear tree with its flower buds just waiting for a change in the temperature so it can start to blossom.

But this cold doesn’t just stop flower buds from opening; even if they did, where are the insects they rely on to pollinate them? It’s far too cold for them to come out.

Last year we had a very bad year for tree fruit. I think we only had two decent pears! Compared to the year before when we had so many we had to put our prepared pears in the freezer.

This year, with the forecast looking like temperatures way below average for most of April, it looks like we’re going to have another difficult year for fruit farmers.

The advancing shoots

Either winter is obstinately refusing to leave, or spring is dragging its heels, but we all despair at the inactivity of it all!

Nevertheless, the new growth is starting to get established, as you can see in the hydrangea and elderflower above.

But the pause button is firmly pressed down, as shown by our pear tree flower buds. They have been poised to unfurl for some days, but are decidedly and tantalisingly not complying.

It’s not all yellow flowers…

The forsythia is starting to come out. This is definitely a sign of Spring.

A good contrast was this fantastic show of red quince flowers I found.

Interestingly I note that the flowers come out before the leaves. This is also the same of my pear tree, which is covered in pink buds and is looking very promising. I will show it off later when it’s in full bloom.