Every Spring we notice from our kitchen window a tree in bloom in the fields behind our house. At the height of flowering the tree looks like there’s been an explosion in the hedgerow, like a blooming mushroom cloud of vegetation. We’ve named it The Explosion Tree.

Every year I wonder what sort of tree it is, then get on with making dinner and forget about it until the next day, and the next day, and then suddenly it’s too late to go and track it down as it’s no longer in flower. Well, thanks to our new, less rushed way of living and the need for a purpose to our walks, we finally made the effort to visit it. Fully expecting it to be quite a bit further than it was (I think the very act of connecting it to a mushroom cloud had made it enormous in my mind) it only took us 20 minutes to navigate the public footpaths to finally come upon this monument of blossom.

Having confidently assumed I’d immediate recognise what it was, we took a moment to enjoy its majesty before stepping in for a closer look – it certainly looks like an apple tree, but then the scent was all wrong, not nearly as strong and sweet as my nostrils were anticipating. Could it be a pear? A crabapple? Suddenly I was filled with doubt – what is this glorious tree that brightens our view every Spring?

And that is why this is turning into a two-parter. We will all have to wait until the autumn, for another foray into the fields to identify the fruits before we can know with confidence what variety of explosion this is. Needless to say, I’ve now taken enough photos to identify which tree it is in any season. The story will continue!