Damson in SIzergh orchard
Tree-flowers often blossom before the tree comes into leaf and on a bright April day they look lovely against a blue sky. As I walked over Scout Scar to Sizergh Castle I sought out particular trees to admire their blossom.
First, a cherry in a fringe of woodland below Helsington Church. Then to Holeslack with brimstone butterflies in flight and orchard trees coming into bloom. Blackthorn blossoms in the new-laid hedge. Damsons blossom about the orchard and varieties of apples and pears are budding and coming into bloom.
First, a cherry in a fringe of woodland below Helsington Church. Then to Holeslack with brimstone butterflies in flight and orchard trees coming into bloom. Blackthorn blossoms in the new-laid hedge. Damsons blossom about the orchard and varieties of apples and pears are budding and coming into bloom.
In SIzergh Castle formal gardens there are blossoming shrubs of exquisite fragrance. And drifts of unfamiliar narcissi. Few butterflies are abroad but bees are lively about their orchard hives and there's abundant pollen and nectar in tree-flowers. Fruit trees are budding, coming into bloom but not yet leafing so lichens and epiphytes are visible and hint at the history of the orchard. I wonder when the orchard walls were built, when fruit trees were first planted to whose design. There are name tags on some trees- there are heritage varieties of apples, crab apples and pears. Codlins, some are named. Codlins and cream, a folk name for willowherb. With Shakespearian resonance.
Sir Thomas Strickland took twenty five long-bow men to Agincourt and brought them all home safely. So it is said. Yew used for archery are all around us, ancient trees. Was there an orchard here in 1415, I wonder. Were the lakes then fish ponds to feed the castle?
For locals, like me, there are personal histories too. In pastures surrounding the castle there was an ancient hawthorn gnarled, bossed and contorted, with tree-holes for invertebrates or small birds to nest in. I have the images but the hawthorn is gone now, blown down in a gale or rotted away. Last summer was comparatively good for butterflies, set against 2024 perhaps the worst record ever. Through August and September I studied butterflies in Sizergh kitchen garden and the herbaceous borders. Nothing on the ivy in the orchard but an aura of Red admiral and Comma around a damson in rays of sunlight. I've seen butterflies feeding on fermenting fruit, but someone this damson draws me back to chart it's progress through the seasons. And to enjoy the serenity and interest within the orchard. A sense of its history, and those who planted it and cherish it.
For locals, like me, there are personal histories too. In pastures surrounding the castle there was an ancient hawthorn gnarled, bossed and contorted, with tree-holes for invertebrates or small birds to nest in. I have the images but the hawthorn is gone now, blown down in a gale or rotted away. Last summer was comparatively good for butterflies, set against 2024 perhaps the worst record ever. Through August and September I studied butterflies in Sizergh kitchen garden and the herbaceous borders. Nothing on the ivy in the orchard but an aura of Red admiral and Comma around a damson in rays of sunlight. I've seen butterflies feeding on fermenting fruit, but someone this damson draws me back to chart it's progress through the seasons. And to enjoy the serenity and interest within the orchard. A sense of its history, and those who planted it and cherish it.
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