Spring is sprung… early this year

Spring has sprung much earlier in 2011

According to this article in The Guardian we are having an unusually early spring. Key indicators are Hawthorn in leaf, Blackthorn blossom in the hedgerows (seen here in Bepton) and frogs spawning. After a cold December, temperatures in January and February were relatively warm which has lead to spring rapidly unfolding in 2011. The only question that remains of course, is to wonder where the birdies is?

Blackthorn is one our earliest flowering hedgerow plants and provides a valuable source of nectar and pollen for bees in spring. Its foliage is a food plant for caterpillars of many moths and birds nest among the dense, thorny twigs and branches. It’s also famous for its fruit – ‘Sloes’. Which taste jolly good in Sloe Vodka! It’s said that witches make their wands and staffs from Blackthorn too…