Spring blossom on fruit trees

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Spring is here, although nobody seems to have told the weather department yet. This week's biting easterly wind felt more like standing at a Siberian bus stop than April in an English country garden.

However, the evidence of spring is out there - the trees are blossoming like there's no tomorrow. My children and I gave my wife a small orchard for her birthday in 2000. It always looks gorgeous at this time of year, and gets better every season as the trees mature.

We planted young, whippy trees - a mixture of bog-standard and rare varieties - which are now strapping adolescents, producing more and more fruit each year. It's been one of the most satisfying things we've done in this garden and has, generally, been a success. Although there is one particular apple tree called 'Cornish Aromatic' whose fruit is pretty hopeless. They are few in number and those that survive taste very strongly of surgical lint (some rare apple varieties became rare for the very good reason that they weren't very good).

But I digress: back to blossom. The purpose of blossom (as I'm sure you know) is to attract pollinators and therefore to produce fruit. However, it's also very lovely in its own right. Not all of the trees are yet in flower, but at the moment we can enjoy the following:

Prunus domestica 'Count Althann's Gage': this tree has grown faster than any other in the orchard. There is nothing better than a warm gage straight from the tree. The little orange-tipped stamens on the flowers are like the antennae of butterflies.

Pear 'Fondante d'Automne': one of those annoying pear trees whose fruits are always too hard - except for the perfectly ripe ones that are snaffled by squirrels. However, I'm sure that as it gets bigger there'll be enough to go around. In the meantime, it has gorgeous blossom and wonderful autumn leaves the colour of sunsets.

Pear 'Conference': nothing rare or particularly special about this tree. Good fruit, always reliable (even in slightly damp ground) and with pretty flowers that are, very sensibly, still tucked up, waiting for the weather to improve.

Pear 'Winter Nelis': this is a late fruiter (although we are yet to get much), with the best blossom of all. Pink and white nuggets like freshly washed babies.

There are apples as well, but only Malus 'Egremont Russet' is showing signs of setting flower at the moment, so there should be at least a couple more weeks of enjoyment.

That is without even thinking about cherry blossom (both Prunus 'Taihaku' and P. cerasifera) or, indeed, the glorious amelanchiers.

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