Buds a sign of better days to come

IT’S MORE than six weeks since the solstice and the days are noticeably longer, but I walked around the field and inspected my plantation of trees and there were very few signs that spring was around the corner.

One exception was the hazels. Their catkins were long, butter-yellow and ripe looking. But the alder catkins were still only about half their final length and only just beginning to take on the rich purple colour that shows that they’re mature. The birch catkins, which never grow very big, seemed even further behind.

So I went over to have a close look at a large female goat willow to see how it was getting on. The small catkin buds were just starting to burst, showing a glimpse of silver.