Budburst

Emma Chaplin
, 11 April 2021
Budburst
Horse chestnut © Alan Price

By Charlotte Owen

WildCall Officer

April is a month of ‘more’ - more daylight, more buds, more leaves and more flowers, with more pollen and more sneezing for us hayfever sufferers, but the natural world is springing back to life. Some say that April is named after the Latin aperere, meaning “to open”, in reference to the profusion of bursting buds, unfurling leaves and blooming blossom.

Plant buds are fascinating structures. They are destined to become either leaves, flowers or shoots and there is huge variety in their appearance. It might seem strange to start talking about cabbages at this point but cabbages are particularly big, leafy buds and, when cut in half lengthwise, provide a good demonstration of general bud anatomy: thick, leathery green leaves on the outside enclosing a dense crowd of pale, crinkly young leaves within.

Leafless trees can be identified by their buds, held tightly shut and biding their time until spring. The scaly outer leaves of tree buds are tough and frost-resistant, like a coat of armour for the delicate inner foliage, and some also have a sticky coating as an extra line of defence against hungry birds and insects. The leaves inside, which started developing last summer, are by now packed in so tightly that they really do burst out when the time is right, triggered by longer days and a spell of warm, sunny weather. With ready-made leaves primed to unfurl at a moment’s notice, the budding trees have guaranteed themselves a near-instant array of natural solar panels to maximise photosynthesis and kick-start the new season’s growth.

The timing of annual natural events like budburst and first flowering has been shifting gradually over the years, and decades of data show that spring is generally springing earlier than it used to. This is nature’s response to a warming world and while an early spring may seem beneficial, there’s a danger that species could fall out of sync if they’re adapting at different rates – so early-leafing beech trees could shade out the bluebells beneath them before they’ve had a chance to flower, with a knock-on effect felt along the food chain. 

Find out more and log your seasonal ‘firsts’ at naturescalendar.woodlandtrust.org.uk  

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783089856.89550 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783089856.96230.0668Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783089856.96240.0001Server address: 216.73.216.95
1783089856.96240Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783089856.96240Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/budburst
    [s] => budburst
    [1] => budburst
)
1783089856.96260.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783089856.96550.0028 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783089856.96740.0019 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22571818
1783089856.96840.0011 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22571818
1783089856.9690.0006 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-03 14:44:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-03 14:44:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783089856.97030.0012 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='budburst')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-03 14:44:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783089856.99880.0285 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783089856.99940.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=2501 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-03 14:44:00'
1783089857.00080.0014 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783089857.00160.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783089857.00230.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=181 LIMIT 1
1783089857.00280.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=51 LIMIT 1
1783089857.00340.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783089857.00380.0003 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783089857.00490.0011 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-03 14:44:00' AND postSlug='budburst'
1783089857.05640.0515Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783089857.05680.0004 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783089857.06630.0095Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783089857.06650.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783089857.06750.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783089857.0690.0016 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783089857.0730.0039 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783089857.0740.001 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783089857.0770.003Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783089857.0770.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783089857.07790.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783089857.07830.0004 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783089857.08080.0025 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783089857.08140.0006 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783089857.08190.0004 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783089857.08430.0025 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783089857.08530.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783089857.08820.0029 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783089857.08860.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783089857.08880.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1783089857.08960.0008Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783089857.09010.0005 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='budburst')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-03 14:44:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783089857.09270.0026 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783089857.09320.0006 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783089857.09540.0021Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783089857.09630.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=2501 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783089857.150.0537 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783089857.15020.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783089857.15040.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1783089857.15110.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783089857.15170.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783089857.15230.0005 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783089857.15440.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783089857.15490.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783089857.15720.0023 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783089857.15810.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783089857.15860.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783089857.1590.0004 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783089857.16160.0026 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783089857.16250.0008 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783089857.16440.002 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783089857.16730.0029 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783089857.1680.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783089857.16840.0004 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783089857.17110.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783089857.17160.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783089857.17380.0022 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783089857.17650.0026 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783089857.17890.0024 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783089857.17940.0005 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783089857.1820.0026 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783089857.18250.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783089857.18480.0023 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783089857.18640.0015Request time: 0.2918
1783089857.18640Process time: 0.2917
1783089857.18640Memory: 1.6239