In no more than a week… everything changes.

The whole world is poised, waiting for the starters pistol, straining to hold… then almost without warning - it begins. The tulip tree, the dogwoods, the grass, the veges - everywhere in Orange… every single thing was in readiness, now the race has begun and so much is bursting with life. The speed of it all takes you by surprise, even when you’re watching and waiting.

Like magic… the elm tree’s delicate tiny flowers, with their almost imperceptible colour, signal the imminent arrival of the massive green canopy of leaves, that makes the weeping elm one of the most amazing summer sights.

It’s nothing short of a miracle as life returns to the most dormant twigs - buds burst through their skin to reach the sun as it warms. Despite the desperate lack of water, life appears again through the most challenging circumstances.

The discolouring of green grass may be an obvious reminder of the struggle of the natural world - but the skeleton of once proud trees is the most sombre and tragic. They have a limit to their resilience.

Let’s just rejoice in the colour and the beauty and the renewed life - the extraordinary and ravenous birds searching for sufficient to placate the cacophony coming from their nests.

Just waiting for the Robinia.

The miracle of spring!