Anon, on the Pear’s Peculiarly Ponging Posy
Intrigued by a mention of an odd odour in a paper from 1934, I stuck my face in several clusters of pear blossom, and this is what I found…
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Gallery: Fruit Blossom, Early Spring 2026 Edition
Early blossom has been hit hard by a cold snap around these parts, but not before I snapped a few photos.
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Stepover Apple Tree Update – Spring 2024 Edition
Time to check in on my allotment grown, winter pruned, stepover trained apple trees, ‘Keswick Codlin’ and ‘Howgate Wonder’.
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Stepover Apple Trees: Winter Pruning, Year Three
I’ve been shunning the standard advice and only winter pruning trained apple trees for three years now. Here’s how it’s going.
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Climate Change in the Orchard: Later Frosts, Earlier Harvests?
A recently published research paper has outlined some of the possible implications of climate change for orchard growers.
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Orchard Blossom Season is Almost Here
Spring-time in the orchard and beautiful blossom buds are about to burst into life. So why is it such a tense and worrying time..?
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FruitWatch: Citizen Science in the Orchard
A new project at the University of Reading needs UK fruit tree owners’ help to record changing blossom patterns.
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‘John Downie’ is the Star of the Spring Show
We’ve had a really good year for blossom in the back garden, with crab apple ‘John Downie’ putting on a splendid display.
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Poetry: ‘Apple Blossoms’, by Susan Kelly-DeWitt
Susan’s rather lovely poem perfectly captures the orchardist’s winter frustration and the anticipation of spring.
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Au Revoir to Pear, Plum and Damson Blossom?
Two nights of bad weather after early blossom has bloomed is bad news, but hopefully not the end of this year’s crop.
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Frost Warning! Bad News for Blossom
It’s every orchardist’s worse-case scenario: a sharp frost forecast just as the blossom is starting to open…
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Gallery: Top-Fruit Blossom, Spring 2020
2020 has been a rather excellent year for fruit blossom. Here’s a gallery of some examples I’ve seen in various places.
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Air-Pot Mini-Orchard Update: It’s Blossom Time
A healthy display of blossom should hopefully mean a few fruits to enjoy later in the year.
