Dear whitebeam, I just wanted to say how beautiful you look at the moment. I forget every year how your pale, sage-coloured new leaves stand upright around your flowers, and look like ready-made posies, gifts for May Day. I also forget how shapely your canopy is, second only to the neat shape of the hornbeam (no relation, I know). Ther...

Dear cherry trees, I see a few of you on my daily walk. Most of you live in gardens, but there are still one or two of you who have survived as magnificent street trees, in spite of random acts of Council butchery. I just wanted to tell you how beautiful you all look right now. Your pink blossoms are a longed-for fizz of colour and a v...

Dear blackbird on the aerial, It was lovely to meet you the other day. I had just passed through the song bubble of your territorial neighbour on my walk. He was at the top of the still bare ash tree in the little scrap of nature reserve, singing to the sky. I left that precious patch of green with regret and a deep sigh (as I always d...

Dear falling tree, I'm sorry to address you like this, but I'm afraid I don't remember your species. Strictly speaking, you aren't falling either. Or maybe you are... it's complicated. Let me start again. I've been thinking about you a lot lately. I saw you when we visited the Forest of Dean for a walk. From one side, you looked like a...

Dear primroses, I'm so glad to see you again! You always take me by surprise for some reason, even though you reliably pop up through the gravel in the garden at about this time each year. I'll be idly looking out of the kitchen window when I suddenly see you for the first time, even though you've probably been there for days or weeks,...

Dear woodpigeon, I'm sorry to disturb you at what is obviously a busy time for you. I've seen you bringing twigs deep into the ivy-twined heart of one of the hawthorn trees in our garden, so you are obviously starting to build a nest again. I just wanted to tell you how much I admire your plumage. I think many people overlook you becau...