Expect ‘Mexican wave of colour’ after cold snaps as National Trust launches blossom campaign at Stowe

The National Trust launches its annual blossom campaign this week at Stowe and elsewhere, aiming to bring the beauty of blossom to more people and celebrate the start of spring.

But due to repeated cold snaps in recent weeks and the driest February in 30 years, people in Aylesbury Vale may need to wait a little longer than usual to be able to enjoy nature’s most beautiful displays.

Andy Jasper, the National Trust’s Head of Gardens and Parklands, said: “A number of factors can influence the timing of the emergence of blossom, temperature being the principal one. While we had a mild winter overall, the recent cold snaps have affected how quickly nature progresses, and we can see the effects of this across many of our gardens with blooms delayed.

“Luckily, snow doesn’t generally affect the blossom in the long run – it’s late frost that can really impact the display of blossom, fruiting and harvests – and the cold snap has happened before the buds have tried to bloom in most cases, so we are still in line for a truly incredible show where the delayed blossom will burst forth in waves across the country like an amazing Mexican floral wave – marking the reassuring moment that spring has arrived.”

The National Trust gardens at Stowe will be celebrating Blossom Week, from April 24 to 30, with the launch of a new Blossom Map and offering Blossom Tours.

Gardener Sophie Thomas said: “Here at Stowe, blossom has just started breaking, with our almonds in the courtyard and our cherry plum across the site. The apple blossom is still holding tight, looking forward to the warmer weather.

" I’m looking forward to being able to enhance our seasonality in the garden by planting some more fruit trees this year to provide nectar sources for wildlife.

“The cold weather probably ended our snowdrop display slightly early, but our blossom display hopefully won’t be too affected. It’s a great sign of new beginnings and provides a great boost to pollinating insects after the winter.

"We have seen pollinators in the garden already, so the cold weather doesn’t seem to have affected them too much.

“We’re really looking forward to showing visitors our brand new Blossom Map with the best route to see the blossom highlights. Plus, we’ve lots of talks, activities, gardener tours and games for Blossom Week. We’ll also be able to show visitors the very best places for that blossom selfie.”

As part of the blossom campaign, the National Trust will encourage people to enjoy blossom and share spring impressions on social media with the hashtag #BlossomWatch.

The conservation charity will also continue its work to bring blossom back to landscapes across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, by planting four million blossoming trees.

As part of this, 3,000 flowering hedgerow plants such as hawthorn, apple, crab apple and guelder rose have been planted on the Bradenham estate and 4,000 on the Hughenden estate in Bucks.

For more information about this year’s blossom campaign and the National Trust’s work around lost blossom, visit the National Trust website.