Dear Readers, a few years ago this poor old crab apple  had a nasty encounter with a scaffolding lorry, which took off an entire branch. 

This was a bit of a peculiar looking tree to start with, and losing a great chunk has done nothing for its good looks. Furthermore, as far as I can see it has been left to its own devices, with the wound left open to the elements and to any passing fungal spores/burrowing insects/pollution that might be passing. And yet.

The wound today.

Look at the blossom! The tree is completely lopsided but it’s not going to let a little thing like that get in the way of its flowering.

I have no idea how long it will survive, but it is certainly not prepared to keel over just yet. Our street trees are so valuable and yet they often go under our radar until they are cut down.

I was also struck by the flowers on this cherry, also on Huntingdon Road, which are literally coming out of the bark. It doesn’t matter how often we prune our trees and shrubs, they sometimes seem to have an idea of what they want they do.

And here’s the blossom in a more usual spot…

And finally, here’s a view down Summerlee Avenue. This lovely road lost several silver birches during the recent storms, but it’s good to see that some survived. Spring is definitely on the way, even though we had snow flurries yesterday.