This has been a cruel winter. Snowdrops, daffodils and early Japanese cherry blossom all began to come out early in the mild spell over Christmas and New Year. There were even young leaves bursting out on hawthorn bushes. But just as it looked like an early spring was on the cards, winter returned with a vengeance and the big freeze put everything on hold.
However, there are still signs of spring. Catkins are dangling off hazel trees, many of them hard and unripe but others have turned into lamb's tails. Those soft, yellow catkins that wiggle around in the breeze and shed their cargo of powdery pollen on the female flowers, which resemble tiny red stars on the same twigs. And the lamb's tails will be dancing around in the wind up until April.
Hazel is certainly a tough character well used to freezing conditions. It was one of the first trees to colonise Britain after the last ice age. The early Britons soon discovered that hazel branches were so flexible they could be woven or even tied into knots and could be used for the wattle and daub walls of their dwellings.
Today, hazel is still used for pegging down thatched roofs. The hazel tree has a reputation as a magical tree – rods made from hazel are supposed to ward off evil spirits and are used as divining rods. In some parts of England, hazel nuts were also kept as charms or held to ward off rheumatism.
