When does the apple blossom start? Every year many amateur gardeners and numerous researchers are concerned with this question. After all, the blooming of the apple trees indicates the onset of full spring. The term full spring comes from the phenological calendar, which does not know the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter as usual, but rather 10 seasons. The beginning of the apple blossom in Europe changes every year.
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Science and the beginning of the apple blossom
Climate researchers are particularly interested in the beginning of the apple blossom in the regions of Europe. You derive climate changes from it. Scientists note different stages of apple blossom:
1. Blooming
2. Opening
3. Mouse-eared
4. Middle flower
5. Full flower
In Central Europe, the full bloom phase is reached at the end of April. One speaks of full bloom when at least half of the apple blossoms have opened.
Apple trees are spread all over Europe. They even grow at altitudes over 1000 meters. Its widespread use makes it possible to identify and evaluate climatic changes across Europe based on the onset of the apple blossom.
The apple blossom in the phenological calendar
Phenomenology is the science of natural phenomena. The phenological calendar describes the seasons using natural phenomena such as:
- Early spring: flowering of snowdrops, spring cups and hazelnuts
2. First spring: beginning of flowering for forsythia, cherry and pear trees and berry bushes
3. Full spring: onset of apple blossom
4. Early summer: flowering of elder and robinia, first hay mowing
5. Midsummer: Beginning of currant blossom , ripe winter rye
6. Late summer: flowering of the heather, grain harvest
7. Early autumn: maturity of the elder, flowering of the autumn timeless, peak of the fruit harvest
8. Full autumn: potato harvest, leaf color
9. Late autumn:Fall of leaves
10. Winter: emergence of winter wheat
Beginning of the apple blossom in 2019
While the apple blossom started in southern Spain around March 20, thus heralding full spring, the first open apple blossoms in Germany were observed at the end of March in Freiburg am Breisgau. The onset of flowering began in Spain, Italy and Germany around two weeks earlier than in 2018. The warm days in March also attracted the first apple blossoms in the Lake Constance region. The apple trees along the Rhine also began to bloom much earlier than in previous years. In the Altes Land, the well-known apple region in Northern Germany, the apple blossom started in March 2019. At the beginning of April some flowers have already opened, but most of them are still closed. The phase known as the “mouse-eared” has started.
The apple blossom in South Tyrol is already in full swing at the beginning of April. In the apple strongholds around Merano, the apple trees bloom wherever you look.
The European apple regions
The most famous apple-growing areas in Europe are:
Germany
- the old country
- Lake Constance region
- Saxony-Anhalt
Italy
- Emilia Romagna
- Südtirol
Spain
- Catalonia
France
- South France
- Loiretal
Switzerland
- Wallis
- Thurgau
Impressive experience
Every year in spring, the Vinschgau, Eisack Valley and Merano regions attract numerous visitors who want to admire the apple blossom. Pink-white, seemingly endless seas of flowers inspire the tourists. A fascinating picture emerges when the apple growers sprinkle the trees with fine water droplets to protect the blossoms from frost. Protective ice crystals form around the delicate apple blossoms, which transform the apple orchards in starry neighbors into a fairytale crystal world.
Conclusion
The beginning of the apple blossom in 2019 is not only crucial for apple growers, for scientists it is an important indicator for research into climate change. Based on the fluctuations, conclusions can be drawn about climatic developments. For everyone else, the blooming of the apple trees and the fragrant pink and white blossoms are simply a fascinating natural phenomenon.
