Hedera's Homestead

On the chestnut buds you’ll stick, Buds of beech are sharp and prick, Buds of ash are always put In tidy pairs as black as soot. In a jumble oak buds grow, A most untidy twig they show. Reddish-brown are buds of plane, On the elm tree look again. See the leaf buds, small and brown, Growing up the twig and down, Flower buds you’ll see as well Brown and bead - like as they swell. Buds of sycamore show green, A big one at the top is seen. But smaller down the twig they grow, Lime buds ruby red will glow. Poplar buds in single line, Down the twig in crimson shine. Thus may all the trees be known In winter by their buds alone. Enid Blyton