The Times A Year in Nature Notes

THE HAWTHORN HEDGES are getting greener every day. On many of them small flower buds are also appearing now. They are like tiny, white-tipped drumsticks, and generally grow in groups of three. On some more advanced patches of hedge, in sunny spots, a few of the white flowers have even opened. The other name for hawthorn is may, since that is the month in which the flowers traditionally open. In fact, they are often out in abundance in April – and in a warm, early spring they are not May flowers but March flowers. Under the hedges, the March flora are mostly yellow, with lesser celandines, dandelions, coltsfoot and primroses flourishing everywhere.