Good year, bad year, still the trees and shrubs come along in their predestined order. A bit of variation, of course, even in trees of the same original source, but by and large they are like soldiers on parade answering "annseo" to the roll call or children responding to teacher. As to individual variation, seven beech planted in a circle which is just eight paces in diameter, has two fully leafed, one still holding the greater part of its winter brown coat. But all seven in movement. All healthy.
And 12 oaks, which came up under an ancient giant parent from one year's crop of acorns, and a year later were all of one height, now in a circle in a holding 50 miles from the original mother tree, carry, each one, a personality expressed in width of bole, of direction of branch, etc. But all moving.
An altogether different tree, in this frost pocket area, is still lying doggo. You can just about see that it is not dead. It's maybe 20 feet high, well rounded top. The bark is shaggy, almost leprous with what looks like lichen, but isn't. It's the normal bark of the indomitable black mulberry, now, after nearly 20 years or so, fruiting modestly. But not a sign of a leaf so far. Crafty. It knows that we're well into June before the danger of frost is gone.
In full maturity, this tree tends to lean over and, if not propped well, may fall and still go on fruiting. Breaffy House Hotel in Mayo had one 20 years ago, fallen but still lively. A call to the hotel brought the answer that they still had the mulberry "but it's fallen, you know". We knew. And long may it flourish in its recumbent form.
Cashel Palace Hotel, last visited God knows when, used also to have a fallen mulberry. The first voice to answer was of someone newly there, but she asked and was told they had two mulberries, and they fruit in August. In this climate, the berries are like small logan berries or elongated black berries. You put a sheet under the tree to catch them as they fall. One south of France hotel, had such complaints from customers about purple stained clothes, that the proprietors had the tree cut down.