#BlossomWatch is a British environmental campaign designed to raise awareness of the first signs of

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

by encouraging people to share images of

blossoms In botany, blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (genus ''Prunus'') and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring. Colloquially, flowers of orange are referred to as such as wel ...

via

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

. The campaign was begun by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

in 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England are NHS England and Public ...

Background

#BlossomWatch was initiated by the

in March 2020, in the first national lockdown during the

. The campaign was inspired by analysis from the Trust's Noticing Nature Report, which discovered that only 6% of children and 7% of adults celebrated natural events such as the arrival of Spring. The campaign also drew on the traditional Japanese custom of

hanami is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers; in this case almost always refer to those of the or, less frequently, trees. From the end of March to early May, cherry trees bloom all over Japan, and around ...

, where people communally enjoy the transient nature of

cherry blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...

. #BlossomWatch is part of a wider programme of work by the Trust to plant 68 new

orchards An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

by 2025, and four million trees with blossom by 2030. In order to understand the extent to which

blossom In botany, blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (genus ''Prunus'') and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring. Colloquially, flowers of orange are referred to as such as wel ...

has been lost from the British landscape, artificial intelligence was used to interrogate historic maps of orchards. An interim report from the Trust showed that orchards had reduced in scale from approximately 95,000 hectares in the period 1892–1914, to 41,000 hectares overall in 2022.

Engagement

During the first campaign participants were encouraged to share images on

of blossoms seen on lockdown walks. Shared images shown during the campaign fortnight were viewed four million times. The campaign was repeated in 2021, when people were encouraged to

geotag Geotagging, or GeoTagging, is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to various media such as a geotagged photograph or video, websites, SMS messages, QR Codes or RSS feeds and is a form of geospatial metadata. This data us ...

their blossom locations, in order to crowd-source a map of blossom in the UK. A third iteration in 2022 saw over 53,000 images shared on social media. It also saw the installation of a 'blossom circle' in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

city centre, which opened on 23 April of that year. It also included the installation of 'pop-up blossom gardens' in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, at Edgbaston Street and St Philips Cathedral Square. The Trust also announced a scheme to take place in Autumn 2022 to plant blossoming trees along the circular No.11 bus route.{{Cite news , date=2022-03-24 , title='Ring of blossom' to line Birmingham streets , language=en-GB , work=BBC News , url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-60851761 , access-date=2022-08-03

References

External links

* National Trust website
BlossomWatch
Hashtags National Trust Environmental conservation Cherry blossom festivals