It is generally accepted that oak usually comes into leaf earlier than ash, which is said to be in leaf for a shorter period of time than any other native British tree, but the problem seems to be deciding what ‘out’ means; is it sufficient for the leaves to be emerging from their buds, or do the leaves have to be fully developed? Our tree of the month is not only a common native in this country, but can be found over most of Europe as well as the Caucuses. F. “The lower the temperature, the slower the rate at which phytochromes revert to inactivity, so the molecules spend more time in their active, growth-suppressing state. This is why plants are slower to grow in winter. Warm temperatures accelerate dark reversion, so that phytochromes rapidly reach an inactive state and detach themselves from the plant’s DNA – allowing genes to be expressed and plant growth to resume.” Wigge believes phytochrome thermo-sensing evolved at a later stage, and co-opted the biological network already used for light-based growth during the downtime of night. Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane, artists I admire, illustrate burry men in their book Folk Archive and state in the introduction: ‘As artists we engage in an optimistic journey of personal discovery (albeit often very close to home).’ But the study of phenology (nature’s reponses to seasonal changes) has been recorded by naturalists for a fair few centuries. Whilst their data isn’t as extensive, these nature diaries are valuable observations with which to compare more recent data.

In the afternoon I cleared the garden path inside the wall to the lane, so overgrown that few signs remained of it having been a way to walk. The revelation of distant lives, the uncovering of previous care for this place by people past, brings me satisfaction. And meaning. Yesterday I dug down below the bottom garden gate to unveil a grey-stone step. Earlier lives are exposed also in renovation of the building. In construction of the new chimney in what has been a barn for a hundred years or more, I found in the wall the contours of an old hearth, confirming the belief that my to-be-home was once part of a row of four farm worker’s cottages.So who is this man? Jeremy Cooper? Perhaps much of what is contained in this diary-as-novel happened to him. It doesn’t matter. We read it for its own worth and that worth is not contained in a name. Declan O'Driscoll Images: main, Tooting Common, London Borough of Wandsworth, 19 April 2018; the ash in the foreground is obviously more advanced than the oak behind it; inset, same two trees, oak in front, 1 May 2018. As wide open and wonderful as the chalk downland is, and it is the reason the area has been designated as a local nature reserve, the downs are fringed with oak and beech woodlands that really are coming into their own at this blossoming, blooming time of year. These insect lives interweave, touching humans only when we slow and quieten to inactivity. To purposelessness.” The Green Man is wreathed in oak leaves.The acorn is considered a symbol of immortality and to carry one will prevent illness and ensure a long life. Elder

While in March the awakening forest may seem to begin slowly, the ground work is being laid for the explosion of growth and colour that heralds April. For wildlife active all winter, the breeding season is already well under way. Foxes typically give birth to cubs in March and April, and most breeding vixens are preparing to have young underground at this stage. Even in early March, it is possible to discern that our bird activity is shifting up a gear, with increased singing as birds defend territories, with the resultant breeding activity and nesting amongst our trees & hedgerows.D. With weather and temperatures set to become ever more unpredictable due to climate change, researchers say the discovery that this light-sensing molecule also functions as the internal thermometer in plant cells could help us breed tougher crops. “It is estimated that agricultural yields will need to double by 2050, but climate change is a major threat to achieving this. Key crops such as wheat and rice are sensitive to high temperatures. Thermal stress reduces crop yields by around 10% for every one degree increase in temperature” says lead researcher Wigge from Cambridge’s Sainsbury Laboratory. “Discovering the molecules that allow plants to sense temperature has the potential to accelerate the breeding of crops resilient to thermal stress and climate change.”

Folklore suggested that holly wood had an affinity for control, especially of horses, and most whips for ploughmen and horse-drawn coaches were made from coppiced holly. You might ask why all trees are not ring-porous if this adaption is so superior during the growing season… First, as always, was the horse chestnut, the conker tree, whose spiky flowers are now in full bloom. Plants grow faster in sunlight than in shade # sunlight activates the molecules, slowing down growth + a plant finds itself in shade… enabling it to grow faster to find sunlight againAdd to that the fact that I have read 17 of Fitzcarraldo Editions’ fiction titles and enjoyed nearly all them. Well, although more efficient, the strategy of ring-porous trees is also significantly riskier. Where diffuse-porous trees may use 10 growth rings to transport water up to the leaves, ring-porous trees often transport the majority of water through the newest growth ring alone. Since this can be only a few millimetres wide in mature trees, any damage to this outer ring can have a significant impact upon a trees hydraulic capacity. The new findings, published in the journal Science, show that phytochromes control genetic switches in response to temperature as well as light todictateplant development. As such, there is no conclusion to the book, we don't know whether the unnamed narrator stays where he is, manages to carry on with life or not. But it doesn't matter. Some of the descriptions of the natural world, his battle with the moles that are digging up his lawn, the attempt to create a butterfly meadow are lovely. Some of his references to the art world were completely lost on me, and the description of his trip to see family in New Zealand was just a bit too long. From my casual annual observations, Ash is even more of a sleepy head than Oak. It always seems last in the spring sprint for leaf growth, and as it loses its leaves early in the autumn too, it amazes me that the species is so widespread and succesful. So is Ash ever out first and if so has this changed in historical times?