Tree Blossom

This is one post in a short series in which I look again at spring in Milton Country Park.  So much happens in spring, in such a short space of time, that I found it impossible to keep up with the changing landscape, and, as a result, did not do justice to everything that was going on, the first time around.

 

Orchard - 19 April 2016

The Orchard

One area that I completely neglected was the orchard.  Orchards are, undoubtedly, at their most attractive in spring when the trees are covered in white blossom, like those shown in the image above.

Orchard - 19 May 2016

I found photographing the apple blossom posed the same problems as I had found with other tree blossom such as the blackthorn. What appears to the naked eye as a substantial and obvious mass of bloom, seems quite insubstantial on the photograph: there seems to be far less flowers than I remembered, and those that are there are individually smaller.  It is then a case of balancing the need to show the overall effect, but still have the blossom large enough to make an impact.  I hope by focussing on a single tree in the image above, I have conveyed a sense of what I saw, while still retaining something of the overall environment.

Apple Blossom - 8 May 2016

 A close-up highlights the delicate pinks of the buds and developing flowers which is an important feature of apple blossom.

Elsewhere in the Park

 

By Visitor Centre - 8 May 2016

 
This tree, besides the main path leading past the visitor centre, is, perhaps, the most conspicuous and most noticed, in the park. 

Centre of Park - 12 May 2015

Not all blossom is as conspicuous as the white flowers of the fruit trees.  This willow trees shines bright yellow in the sunshine, not from its leaves, but from its catkins.

 

Field Maple Flowers - 8 April 2016

Similarly, the flowers of the field maple are easily missed as they are only very slightly different in colour from the surrounding leaves.

Next: Hawthorn