Trees photographed during one week in mid April in an urban setting in Central England. Maximum daytime temperature has been 19c with long sunny periods, no overnight frosts and hardly any rain. Ash is just coming into leaf. Oak leaves appeared around April 14th.

Bluebells and Wild Garlic  are in flower now in many woodlands. The two species often grow in the same wood but hardly ever grow together. They form large clumps and out-compete one another. Wild garlic comes into leaf earlier than bluebell and so may have a  competitive advantage. Bluebells need more light than wild garlic and so like the dappled light of a woodland before the tree canopy shades the ground.  The presence of Bluebells and Wild Garlic is an indicator that the woodland has existed for a very long time.

The two species are members of different families. Bluebells are members of the Asparagus family which has 114 genera and 2900 species and includes Agave, Camassia, Hosta, Yucca,  Asparagus,  Hyacinth, Grape hyacinth, Bluebell, Squill and Star of Bethlehem. Wild Garlic is an allium ( similar to the garden alliums)  and is a  member of the  Daffodil family – which has1600 species including Alliums, Agapanthus,  Snowdrop, Snowflake, Nerine, Belladonna Lily and Daffodil. 

This photo shows the superior, green ovary with an erect pale blue style, topped by a receptive stigma. Four of the 6 stamens are shown loaded with yellow pollen. 3 stamens are short and three long. The 6 blue tepals are fused into a tube. To avoid self-pollination it is thought that the  female stigma is fertile before the male anthers release pollen. 

By mid-June the fruits have formed. 

The fruits contain seeds. Some farmers now collect the seeds and sell them to gardeners. In woodlands the plants usually spread by bulb division and so form large clumps but can regenerate from seed.

The abnormally sunny and warm weather has brought on flowering and leaf formation in many species. Here is a selection of trees and flowers noted in April 2020. In some tree species, such as the Weeping Willow, Dwarf Cherry and Japanese Flowering Cherries, the flowers form before the leaves but in others, such as the Horse Chestnut, the leaves emerge before the flower buds have opened.

A year in pictures in the life of a Dwarf Cherry tree located on a south-facing patio. Bought in 2018 it did not fruit in the first year, then in 2019 produced its first crop. A dwarf fruit tree is exactly like any other  fruit tree but its genome restricts its growth to less than 1.5m. It produces flowers, leaves and fruit exactly the same as any other fertile cherry tree. This particular variety of cherry is self-pollinating so does not need another similar tree nearby. Clearly these trees produces masses of flowers but only a small percentage develop into fruits. The flower and leaf buds are formed in the autumn and if they survive the winter,  the flowers emerge first in spring, closely followed by the leaves. The flowers came out slightly earlier this year than last. Last year by June the fruit had formed and was ripe by mid July. The leaves turned red by November and this year the buds were getting ready to open in March and it now in full flower.

July 13th 2019

The fruit is botanically classified as a drupe which consists of three of the ovary wall layers – an outer skin, a fleshy middle layer and an inner stony layer which surrounds the seed. Cherry, Blackthorn, Olive, Apricot, Peach and  Plum fruits are drupes. 

The Common Hornbeam Carpinus betulus is native to Southern England and is also found throughout Europe and Turkey. It is a medium-sized tree and can grow to 30m. It is common in hedgerows and woods and has been planted in many parks and gardens. Its wood is too hard to be used in general carpentry but has been used in hard wearing tasks such as chopping blocks and cog-wheels. In Epping Forest Hornbeams were pollarded to provide firewood. The tree can be confused with the Common Beech but its oval leaves are toothed not smooth-edged. The bark of the tree is very unusual. It is smooth, like the Beech, but is patterned with distinctive silver-grey vertical lines. Male catkins appear in spring and the bracts that held the fruit hang on the tree through winter.