April brings a surge of white on the bushes and trees. The snowy white blackthorn flowers are coming out everywhere in the hedges. They grow very close to each other on the twigs, so the whole bush looks as if it is buried under snow — a spectacular sight, especially when the bushes are found for hundreds of yards along a field edge. Among the flowers one can find the odd dark blue or black sloe from last autumn. The leaves will follow later. On wild cherry trees, the leaves and flowers are opening together, sprinkling the twigs with white and green. Before long, the flowers will be fully open, and then they will cover the trees almost as densely as the flowers on the blackthorns. Along a woodside, seen from a distance, the tall trees will look like white waterfalls. Whitebeam trees are now dotted all over with white buds, which will burst out as leaves with gleaming white, downy undersides.