Cheery Blossom
@owlwings (43915)
Cambridge, England
April 22, 2018 4:41am CST
Our village (which is really a suburb of Cambridge) is, supposedly, named after the wild cherry which grows locally. In honour of this, the local council have planted our High Street with numerous cherry trees (but they are all cultivated and non-fruiting varieties which look glorious for about a week in the spring but come to nothing in the end).
This time of the year is probably the best. We get the first warmth of the sun after a long, chilly winter and everything starts to grow, with fresh, green grass, the first shoots of the hawthorn bushes (called by some country folk, for some obscure reason, ‘bread and cheese’) and the first real blossom of the year. If it is warm enough, we hear the buzzing of the first bees and the occasional butterfly may meander across the garden - usually the yellow-green Brimstones or the dark reddish-brown (almost black) Peacocks which have over-wintered in our sheds.
Geoffrey Chaucer, writing 700 years ago, seems to have had the same feeling about this time of year. “Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages”, he wrote (or in more modern English - “Then people long to go on pilgrimages”). Today, people’s blood is stirred to visit garden centres and parks and stately homes and we can forget all about the floods and storms and gloomy days of winter!
Does this season of the year perk you up as it cheers me?
25 people like this
28 responses
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
23 Apr 18
Switzerland (and Austria), I believe, is noted for its lovely meadow flowers in Spring and Summer. I have never been to either place but I have seen photos, of course. The magnolias are just coming into bloom here, too, and the pear blossom is out as well. Apple blossom should be out a little later. I just hope we have enough bees to pollinate them!
4 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
23 Apr 18
@LadyDuck Fortunately, hornets are quite rare here, though there are other predators of bees. I'm much more concerned about the pesticides so widely used today which kill not only the insect pests (leaving hardly any for the birds and other things which rely on them for food) but also kill the bees ... and without bees we shall not have any fruit and many other crops, nor, of course, any honey.
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (459629)
• Switzerland
23 Apr 18
@owlwings Meadow flowers are beautiful, I am glad we still have many free pastures in the area, where the grass is not cut every week, like people do in private gardens. I have seen bees around my rosemary flowers. Last year we had hornets, they kill the bees, I hope to see more bees and no hornets this year.
2 people like this
@allknowing (130233)
• India
23 Apr 18
Indeed those cherry bloossoms are cheery!!
How can I not mention a song on that which was my husband's favourite which he sang with his baritone range.
I wrote a post a while ago about unseasonal rain bringing in surprises in my garden this April. Our Acalypha is in full bloom.
Esta canción es la versión en Inglés de "Cerisier Rose et pommier blanc", una popular canción de Louiguy. La letra francesa de esta canción (escrita en1950) ...
3 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
23 Apr 18
That's a very redolent song for me. I remember the Eddie Calvert (trumpet) version and also the Pat Boone one from my teenage years! It hadn't occured to me before but cherry blossom is normally white and apple blossom is pinkish (actually pink and white mixed) I also didn't realise that the song was a translation from the Spanish!
2 people like this
@allknowing (130233)
• India
23 Apr 18
@owlwings We were just engaged when my husband sang this song for me
1 person likes this
@responsiveme (22926)
• India
19 May 18
I live this dong...My mom used to ding this
2 people like this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
22 Apr 18
It certainly does and this heatwave we have been having has really put a smile on my face despite the thunderstorrn last night!
It's odd that you should mention the wild cherry tree as I have just passed two beautiful trees in blossom on my way to the local shop ... just looking at them made me feel uplifted. The nice weather has been a long time coming,
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
22 Apr 18
I don't know how it is your way but it's the first year I remember seeing both blackthorn and cherry out at the same time. In two or three days (on the 23rd) it's supposed to be time for the cuckoo and the swallows to arrive. I haven't heard a cuckoo for maybe 15 or 20 years now. Maybe you get them in Surrey still!
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
22 Apr 18
@owlwings I'm in Wiltshire. My profile says Corsham but that was the nearest I could get to where I live in Chippenham.
I haven't seen any blackthorn about yet and I can't remember the last time I heard a cuckoo either now you come to mention it. Even in 2010 there were reports of the cuckoo population plummeting by one fifth in a year in Britain which is very sad.
Numbers of the migrant bird fell by a shocking 21 per cent between 2008 and 2009, according to the Breeding Birds Survey (BBS).
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
23 Apr 18
@sprite1950 I can't think why I thought Corsham was in Surrey. I must have been confusing it with Cobham, perhaps!
It's very sad that we have lost so many cuckoos. As the article says, however, it may not only be due to our falling insect population, depleted hedgerows and therefore fewer nests for the cuckoo to lay its eggs in.
1 person likes this
@silvermist (19702)
• India
22 Apr 18
That is a beautiful photo with the cherry blossoms (and the red cars). Here I have never experienced winter like you experience it.Now it is Spring there.But it is Summer in my place.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
23 Apr 18
@silvermist I think that is because white and silver don't heat up as much as other colours in the sun.
2 people like this
@silvermist (19702)
• India
22 Apr 18
@owlwings Here in India white color seems to be popular ,then silver.
@changjiangzhibin89 (16545)
• China
20 Jun 18
The cherry blossoms in the picture is brilliant as brocade! Here the hawthorn fruit is highly prized by people because it can lower cholesterol levels.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
20 Jun 18
I didn't know that hawthorn was used as a heart and blood medicine until I looked it up. It seems that, so far, the only scientific evidence for its use in controlling cholesterol have been conducted on animals but it appears that they are 'promising'.
Hawthorn grows almost all over the world and is very common here in England, so it should be easy for anyone to find and use. I don't know of any British folk medicine associated with hawthorn and we usually leave the berries for the birds to eat, however the hawthorn has long been associated with fairies and the 'other world' and there are several superstitions connected with hawthorn and either good or bad luck, depending on what you do with it.
1 person likes this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16545)
• China
21 Jun 18
@owlwings According to TCM,hawthorn fruit can improve digestion,remove retention of food,promote blood circulation and resolve blood stasis.
Hawthorn, or Crataegus, is a genus of flowering shrubs and trees found in the Northern hemisphere and often used in landscapes as a hedge. This plant produces tart, bright red, cherry-sized fruit, called haws, which can be processed into jams, jellies and
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (86908)
• United States
21 Dec 20
Yes it does cheer me Owl.
Here is another lovely tree cut down with pink blossoms.
I have walked that street many times.
THE beloved pink-blossomed almond tree which brightened Oxford High Street for decades has been cut down due to safety reasons.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
21 Dec 20
Sadly, trees are living things and, as such, they die sooner or later. Almonds and cherries don't last very long in the wider scale of things and both can suffer from fungal diseases which can actually make them unsafe.
I hope that St Mary's can find a suitable replacement. It would probably be unwise to try to plant another member of the almond/cherry family because the fungus that eventually weakens them lives in the soil and old root system and cannot really be eradicated.
1 person likes this
@TiarasOceanView (70035)
• United States
21 Sep 19
It did perk me up yes when it was spring.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21746)
• Canada
22 Apr 18
Yesterday it finally seemed that winter is loosing it's icy grip.
We lived in a subdivision where the streets were lined with blossoming trees. The fruit dropped in the fall making a bit of a mess, but those blossoms were so welcome in the spring.
1 person likes this
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
28 Apr 18
These are beautiful trees! My cherry tree is pink!
1 person likes this
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
28 Apr 18
@owlwings Yes, mine was an ornamental one.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
22 Apr 18
Summer with the blues skies and heat.
1 person likes this
@Jessabuma (31700)
• Baguio, Philippines
22 Apr 18
It's so beautiful ! I have never seen cherry blossoms in Philippines , I am not sure if it is available here.. I would love to see it in person..
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
23 Apr 18
Japan is noted for its cherry blossom and, even though the Philippines is quite a lot south of Japan, I'm a little surprised that you don't have cherry trees there. Perhaps there are other flowering trees which are more suitable for street planting.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157721)
• United States
6 Jun 18
I really enjoy it, until it gets HOT.
1 person likes this
@suni51 (3429)
• India
6 Jun 18
I love this season of cherries and am lucky to have visited the cherry growing part of our country several times. Now it's no more celebrated due to constant disturbance in that area but I remember the red and white varieties of cherries besides the generosity of the growers who allowed us to pluck and eat at very reasonable price. I am living in Australia for last few years (Off and on) and I am going to miss the Cherry Blossom Festival this year as I shall be reaching back in 3rd week.
https://www.sydney.com/destinations/sydney/sydney-west/events/the-sydney-cherry-blossom-festival
1 person likes this
@Letranknight2015 (51537)
• Philippines
24 Apr 18
It's too hot ever here and hasn't been gloomy over the entire month. Summer is just killing here every noon.
1 person likes this
@FayeHazel (40246)
• United States
8 May 18
This is my favorite time of year as well. We have the whole summer to look ahead to and the warmth is so nice after cold winter. I love those decorative trees, but you are right - they loose their blooms so quickly
1 person likes this
