Still no sign of any Blackthorn flowers. Come on you sloe coaches! We do have daffodils everywhere – standing around in crowds waiting for a wandering poet to notice them – and some very nice Pussy Willows doing their best to keep us entertained until the Blackthorn get here. The Woodland Trust, while offering us a list of alternative names – Sallow, Great Sallow, Goat Willow and more, also mentions that the branches are often used as a replacement for palm branches in church on Palm Sunday (elsewhere on Google – Palm Sunday is sometimes known as Willow Sunday because of this). There is also the suggestion (don’t try this at home kids) that girls who don’t wear a sprig of Pussy Willow to church on Palm Sunday should have their hair pulled.
OK as long as Easter is early, I suppose.
Track and Hedge 