The picture shows one of our orchard trees, a williams pear. Fruit growers are one of the few groups of blokes you'll find talking about blossom, though they'll be careful not to sound as though they are enjoying its beauty too much. Unless they *are* gay, presumably. Instead they obsess about whether it'll be frosted, how much of it there is, and whether enough of the right insects are finding it.
I tried to catch one of the mason bees on the blossom in my picture, but it was camera shy.
I've been a little up-and-down of late. My wife was away at her mother's place until the weekend, and that's always a bit difficult for me. Wandering through the orchard at blossom time is not a cure-all for depression, but it certainly makes you feel a little better.
It is still about four weeks away from blossom time here in Central Ontario. The trillium will be out before that and cover the forest floor hereabouts. Maybe this year I need to take some photos and send them out.
ReplyDeleteThose pear blossoms are truly gorgeous!
Re: "Fruit growers are one of the few groups of blokes you'll find talking about blossom, though they'll be careful not to sound as though they are enjoying its beauty too much."
ReplyDeleteLOL! Isn't that the truth? How ironic that rough and tumble males, are often so insecure about showing any love of beauty and delicacy.
Pear trees are especially gorgeous in the spring! How lovely to be surrounded by them.
Coy bee!
Melissa XX
It is a lovely time of year. Our little apple trees have yet to blossom but they are in leaf. We have other trees in the garden that are full of blossom but they are not fruit trees. The damson/plum trees we have a little blossom on them but I suppose the reason for that is the heavy pruning we gave them in late Autumn. There are many trees just where I live that blossom in the Spring, sadly they are not all in my garden. Speaking of bees, and I don't know which is which but we have been seeing quite a number of them lately, wasps too. They know when they are on to a good thing.
ReplyDeleteShirley Anne xxx
beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYes beautiful. My earlier comment evaporated in space. I was wondering if one can tell the difference between pear and apple blossom if no tree is attached to it.
ReplyDeleteI love cider. I used to help my girlfriend with her farm chores and remember 'vesper time', gathering under a tree in the fields, eating delicious sandwiches and drinking cider (no idea what alcohol %). I was 11 then and kind of new to country life.
We have a colleague who is really into gender stereotypes - he refuses to go near a pink balloon (just in case being seen within a meter of one gives the wrong idea) and indeed would not talk about flowers.
ReplyDeleteHe goes more for Melissa's statement of not showing any love of anything that is beautiful... Anything owned by a man should be ugly. Laptops, cars, running shoes. If they look good then they must be designed for women as men would not not dream of buying anything that looks good.
Thankfully the other men in the office disagree with him totally (telling him he can buy the awful looking stuff if he wants, but they want something that is pleasant to look at ;p)
Stace
Morning all, and thank you for your comments.
ReplyDeleteEverything's moving frighteningly fast hereabouts at the moment, I was back at my folks' place again yesterday and so much more foliage has appeared. Some of my more aggressive prunes from last year have a bit less blossom too, however that's no bad thing as the tree will get a rest and with luck the fruit will be a bit better.
It's funny the bloke thing of being desperate not to show anything 'soft'. I find being an extremely large bloke to be an effective foil for that, it's amazing what I can get away with. A thought about Stace's colleague made me laugh: "Gosh! She's deep in the closet!" :)
Ellena: I've inserted above a picture I took the same day of some apple blossom, for comparison. Not being a botanist this is my own observation only, but pears flower a little earlier and have longer stamens, and apples have pinkinsh petals. Sadly I have never managed to locate German apfelwein in the UK. It's funny, as a continent we share our beer freely but jealously guard our ciders. :)
Thanks Jenny. I have only been back to Germany once in 55 years. No idea if German Apfelwein is available on public shelves.
ReplyDeleteWalking between my two churches this morning I admired the cherry blossom in Forty Acre wood. One tree was covered in white blossom bar one branch. That branch was covered in bright cerise blossom. Even among the mundane flowering cherry there lurk heartening surprises.
ReplyDelete