Alnwick and Amble.
So…on Saturday we went to see the cherry blossom at the Alnwick Garden.
The Cherry Orchard there is planted with 326 Prunus serrulata ‘Taihaku’ trees, a variety of ornamental cherry tree. The Taihaku is known as the Great White Cherry as these beautiful trees produce large bright white blossoms each spring, April and May. The blossoms appear along with copper-coloured foliage, while the mature leaves are bright green. Autumn colours range from yellow to orange. It is the largest cherry orchard of its kind in the world.
The ‘Taihaku’ was originally introduced to England in 1900, and was recognised years later in a Sussex garden by plant collector Captain Collingwood Ingram after it had died out in Japan. Ingram became known as ‘Cherry’ Ingram, and was instrumental in re-introducing the tree to Japan. All the Taihaku Trees in the world are descended from the cuttings made by Cherry Ingram in Sussex.
Afterwards we drove to Amble on the east coast and had some lunch before heading back.
