Spring Blossom in the UK: Orchards, Cherry Trees and Blossom Trails

Spring blossom passes quickly, but for a few weeks between March and May it transforms orchards, gardens and city streets. Britain does not have Japan's cherry-blossom culture, but it does have something just as lovely: old fruit orchards in the countryside, flowering in white and pink in sequence through the spring.

At a glance

When: mid March to mid May, starting with blackthorn and plum and ending with apple. Best places: fruit-growing areas such as the Vale of Evesham, and gardens with orchards. Cost: free on country lanes; entry fees at gardens. Tip: blossom lasts only days on each tree, so stay flexible.

The Vale of Evesham Blossom Trail

Worcestershire's Vale of Evesham has been fruit-growing country for centuries, and each spring its orchards put on one of the best blossom displays in Britain. The Blossom Trail is a signposted route of about fifty miles along quiet lanes through villages around Evesham and Pershore, marked with blue signs at junctions.

How to do it

Most people drive sections of the trail, but cycling suits it well: the lanes are quiet and the land mostly gentle. Walking routes through the orchards are signposted too. The plum and pear blossom is white, the cherry and apple pink.

The order of the blossom

March

Blackthorn flowers white in the hedgerows, often before its leaves appear, alongside early plum and the first cherries.

April

Pear and cherry come into their own, with magnolias in gardens and parks.

Late April and May

Apple blossom, pink in bud and white when open, is the last of the orchard blossom, followed by hawthorn in the hedgerows. Hawthorn's old name, may, comes from the month it flowers.

Gardens and estates

The National Trust runs an annual Blossom Watch campaign encouraging people to share blossom photos, and many of its gardens are planted for spring. Walled gardens with trained fruit trees are especially good, as the fruit along the walls flowers in sequence from March to May. Blickling and Felbrigg in Norfolk, near Aylsham and Cromer, and Calke Abbey in Derbyshire are all known for it.

In the cities

City parks and streets have some of the most spectacular cherry trees. In London, Greenwich Park has a celebrated avenue of cherry trees, and Kew Gardens in Kew has blossom from early magnolias to late cherries.

Planning a blossom trip

Stay flexible

Each tree is in flower for only a week or two, and a warm spell can bring everything out at once, while wind or rain can strip it in a day. A short break you can shift by a few days is ideal.

Combine with somewhere to stay

The Vale of Evesham sits between the Cotswolds and the Malvern Hills, so a blossom weekend combines well with either. For more, see our guides to spring staycations and bluebell woods.