As holiday time approaches for many of us, it is time to re-engage with nature. It is a time of miraculous change; every day more leaves and flowers burst open. The Horse Chestnut bud is particularly fascinating to watch daily. It is what is called a predetermined bud. Everything inside it is ready for this year’s growth; the twig, leaf and flower. What will happen this year is already decided! It is miraculous to watch so much unfurl from one package, especially knowing how big the flower and leaf will be, even if it is quite a big bud compared to other trees.
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As well as the obvious signs of spring, check out the log piles for something quite unusual. We seem to have some curious white blobs growing! Spring isn’t the normal time of year for fungi so slime moulds did pop into the realms of possibility. We think they meet the description of False Puff-balls that are indeed slime moulds. These can actually move but not very fast so we haven’t caught them at it! Usually they are around table-tennis ball size and most of ours are but one was over 12cm long and 13 days later turned into something almost reminiscent of a chocolate truffle complete with cocoa dusting (appropriate for Easter). It was quite difficult to relocate it, despite its size, because it was camouflaged. That dusting, of course, is the spores…loads of them!
