Celebrating blossom with the National Trust

#BlossomWatch, the National Trust’s yearly celebration of the blossom season is back. With thousands expected to capture the joy of seeing trees and hedgerows burst into bloom.

BlossomWatch is the Trust’s annual campaign to encourage people to enjoy and celebrate spring blossom, with the aim of embedding an annual cultural event similar to Japan’s ‘hanami’ in the UK.  It includes digital sharing of images as blossom sweeps up the land from south to north, and events and installations at National Trust places including everything from ‘blossom hammocks’ to painting workshops.

Using #BlossomWatch the National Trust is asking people to share their blossom images on social media, with the hope that the joyful sight of blush-tinted blooms will lift spirits and enable everyone to celebrate nature together.

Blossom trees can be seen on city streets, in gardens and in public parks as well as National Trust places in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. And to support future blooms the conservation charity is encouraging everyone to help support its Plant a Tree fundraising campaign, so that people and wildlife can thrive.

The charity has now vowed to plant four million blossoming trees as part of its commitment to plant and establish 20 million trees across England, Wales and Northern Ireland by 2030.

Here’s where to see some of the most spectacular National Trust displays of blossom:

Lincolnshire

Belton House: Designed to impress, the gardens at Belton reflect the refined tastes of generations of the Brownlow family from the early eighteenth century, right up to the twentieth century. Engage your senses in the Dutch Gardens with a walk through an avenue of blossom and sweet fragrance. The Prunus Cherry Trees will be in blossom, as well as the Syringa Lilac Trees, framing Belton House with pastel colours and a fresh scent. A trip to Belton in the spring isn’t complete without a photo here.

Woolsthorpe Manor: In the orchard at Woolsthorpe Manor the National Trust are custodians of a very special apple tree.  Yes, the very tree from which an apple fell and caused Newton to ask the question: ‘Why do apples always fall straight down to the ground?’ People have been coming to visit the tree and the manor house at Woolsthorpe ever since Newton’s time. Today the tree is pruned regularly to keep it healthy; it continues to grow and bear blossom and fruit. A low barrier has been installed around it to protect the root run and give it some ‘breathing space’. It’s a ‘Flower of Kent’ apple tree, a traditional variety, which produces cooking apples which are green with a red flush, of varying sizes.

Northamptonshire

Lyveden: Lyveden’s historic orchard was described as ‘one of the fairest orchards that is in England’. For the last 20 years the National Trust has been lovingly re-planting this special orchard, taking inspiration from contemporary sixteenth and seventeenth century records, as well as the personal letters of its former owner Thomas Tresham. Tresham’s plans included apples, pears, and damsons, as well as a charming ‘walk’ of cherries and walnuts. In Spring, the orchard bursts with white and pink blossoms from over 300 trees of 19 different varieties and is teeming with the buzzing of bees from Lyveden’s busy hives.

Nottinghamshire

The Dukes Orchard, Clumber Park: Blossom is one of the first indicators of spring, and people and nature see it as a herald of warmer and longer days after the winter. At Clumber Park, the Ranger and Gardens teams have recreated a long-lost orchard to connect people with nature. From Hawthorn to Blackthorn, there will be trees blossoming from late January to Midsummer, surrounded by patches of wildflowers. Later in the year, visitors will have the opportunity to pick the fruit and eat it fresh from the tree, whether it is an apple or a pear, as well as being able to forage for fruit from the hedgerow surrounding the orchard.