Spring Blossoming into Action

Before I start this nature note, I must admit… plants are not my area of expertise! As much as I completely value their importance and beauty, I am a zoologist- not a botanist. However, as kindly highlighted by others in the community, I should be writing about plants too! After all, they are the epitome of nature.

One thing I think all of us have noticed over the last few weeks has been the stunning pink and white blossom, blooming on every street in the local area. I have noticed a few different types, and I was really intrigued to find out some more about what species there are in the area. Of course, local botanist Roy was on hand to help me out. Here is some of his nuggets of wisdom on the blossom we have in the area:

“There are three Prunus taxa in flower locally: cherry plum, P. cerasifera, with quite large white flowers on obvious stalks and with some leaves, P. cerasifera var. pissardii, purple-leaved plum, as the previous one but with pinkish flowers and purplish leaves, and blackthorn, P. spinosa, which has smaller, clustered flowers on very short stalks and no leaves yet.”

This is such interesting information to know, and I have done a little research to find out more about these species.

Cherry plum is commonly a street tree and it flowers in early spring- as we can see at the moment! Its bark is dark grey and its twigs are green, unlike some of the other blossom species. The flowers are white, and they usually grow on singular stems. This is a non-native species, and it originates from southeast Europe and western Asia. It is very popular with our pollinators including bees, hoverflies and wasps.

Purple-leaved plum is probably the most easily distinguishable from the other blossom species in the area due to their dark, purple-coloured leaves. It flowers early to mid-spring and has wonderful pink/white flowers. RHS garden states that this species needs full sunlight and is “a superb small tree that is easy to grow and will suit any garden.”

Blackthorn produces pure white flowers and again, is early to blossom in spring. Its bark is dark brown, and it has side shoots that turn into thorns. It has small narrow leaves and is often used in hedges. Its dark fruits are also interestingly used to make sloe gin!

All of these species bring so much colour, beauty and spring feeling to the area- this time of year would feel very different without them. But on a more meaningful level, these plants are essential for our spring ecosystems. Pollinators love them, which is great because with pollination these trees will produce better fruit and be more fertile. Many of these species are easy to plant in our own gardens, to encourage wildlife and help out nature!

Thank you so much Roy for educating me on blossom in Tooting, and if you’d like to find out more about these species, visit the Woodland Trust website, where some of the information from this nature note has been extracted from.