Tree Following March 2019 - an early start

We have had several days recently of warm daytime temperatures, coupled with cold frosty nights.  As I write this the weather is returning to be more seasonally appropriate, so colder in the day but not so frosty at night and with the additional of some much needed rain. The outcome of this is that the quince trees are pushing ahead with their growth.

As I walk towards Quince Major and Minor I can see that they are tufted with green.

Quince Minor has lots of blossom looking buds developing this year.

I am hopeful that it will have a better year and not suffer from the blight that has hit it for the last two years.

Quince Major stands majestic....

... and is also covered in blossom shaped buds just waiting to emerge.

Both trees seem at the same stage whereas in previous years Quince Minor has been a little behind its older cousin.  This is good and seems positive for the year ahead.

and yet....

It is still early, we are not through the snow and frost zone yet and a hard frost could dash my quince-shaped hopes for this year.  I look back to my March 2018 Tree Following post and shiver at the sight of snow on the ground and look at how less developed the buds were at that point.  I think we are now a good three or four weeks ahead.  I then looked back to March 2017 and it would seem that last year was behind rather than this year being early, and we had a damaging late frost in 2017.  I have to wait for the year to unfurl.  The quest for a quince is afoot, let's hope it does not fall at the first hurdle.

More followed trees can be found here courtesy of Squirrelbasket.