Botanical Apple Blossom (botanical style)

The cultivated apple, Malus domestica, is in the rose family, and its main wild ancestor grows in the Tian Shan mountains of Central Asia. Blossom opens pink from the bud and fades towards white, in clusters of five-petalled flowers; the central 'king' flower usually opens first. Most varieties need pollen from another variety flowering at the same time. Victorian fruit books such as the Herefordshire Pomona recorded varieties in careful watercolour plates of blossom, leaf and fruit.

Plant bare-root apple trees between November and March, while they're dormant, and stake young trees firmly. Free-standing trees are pruned in winter, from November to February, removing dead, diseased and crossing branches to keep the centre open. Trained forms such as espaliers and cordons are pruned in late summer. Blossom opens in late April or May, and a late frost can damage it, so fleece small trees on cold nights. Some fruitlets fall naturally in early summer, and harvest runs from August into October.

A twig of pink-white apple blossom is shown here with its leaves and a small apple, on a cream ground. Blossom and fruit don't appear on the tree at the same time, so putting them side by side tells the year's story in one drawing, from spring flower to the fruit it becomes.