Cherry blossom: Why we could have a beautiful spring

Do you love the blossom in spring? Well you might be in luck this year!

If you think it's a bit cold and grey outside at the moment, fear not! We could have some gorgeous blossoms coming in spring.

Plant experts at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) - the UK's leading gardening charity - say that due to weather conditions so far in 2023, we should expect to see beautiful flowers soon.

The experts think that a cold February has helped make the right conditions for flowers in spring.

Which blossoms do you love? Scroll down to choose your fave flowering tree or bush and let us know why in the comments!

What is blossom?

Spring is just around the corner, and we could be seeing some stunning flowers!

Before a plant forms a fruit or vegetable, it creates a flower from a bud.

The flowers attract bees and other insects to come and pollinate it, by taking pollen from one plant and delivering it to another.

Insects go from flower to flower, picking up pollen and collecting food in the form of nectar.

This usually happens in spring time, when it starts to get warmer after winter.

Every spring, fruit trees like the cherry or the apple create beautiful bright blossom flowers, before the conditions are right for fruit to form.

Blossom trees are very special in some countries - for example in Japan they hold a festival to celebrate blossoms and the arrival of spring.

Why might we see more blossom this year?

This bee is taking pollen from the apple blossom, to pass on to another flower

Due to the heat wave last summer, lots of flower buds became ready because of the heat and sunlight.

Now we're having a very cold February - which means buds haven't flowered too quickly.

According to Guy Barter, who is a chief horticulturalist at the RHS, flower buds need a special amount of time in the cold before they flower.

If they flower later, the flowers are likely to be bigger, as they won't be damaged by any frost we might have before spring begins.

Guy says usually we get a lot of success with cherry blossom - which are the bright pink blossoms you might be familiar with!

However this year, due to the colder February and the preparation we had with last year's summer, we should see some impressive apple blossom, as well as other fruits.