Photo by Leith Huffadine.
Brothers Ben (22), left, and Brett Butcher (24), of England, stand among the blossom on Royal Rosa apricot trees at Jackson Orchard, near Cromwell yesterday.
Manager Mark Jackson said the blossom was about two weeks earlier than normal, and about four days earlier than last year's first blossom.
He expected to see blossom on other apricot varieties in the orchard within the next three to four days, meaning the risk of frost damage would occur earlier this year.
Blossom is also showing on fruit trees elsewhere in the region, and there were reports of orchards frost-fighting yesterday in the Teviot Valley and Cromwell-Lowburn areas.
