Once their leaves come out, trees are green until the autumn. But they're never as brilliantly green as they are in early spring when the leaves are still young. The canopy is a beautiful burst of light greens, a mix of subtle tones of jade and emerald. Here's the view from Richmond Hill looking proper lush.
But it never lasts. As the weeks go by the greens get inexorably darker and well before summer they're all just identikit deep green, those fresh contrasts lost. The shift to autumn's also fabulous, don't get me wrong, but nothing beats the first flush of green we get to enjoy in April.
It's all to do with chlorophyll. In young leaves the chloroplasts are still developing so contain less green pigment and the leaves tend to be lighter. It's also compounded by maturity. As new leaves grow they begin making additional pigments that darken the foliage, and they also thicken as they develop waxy layers that can dim the green hue.
Spring's bright burst is brief and gone too soon. Enjoy the greens while you can.
Farrow and Ball paint colours: Arsenic, Ball Green, Bancha, Beverly, Breakfast Room Green, Calke Green, Card Room Green, Carriage Green, Chappell Green, Chine Green, Churlish Green, Cooking Apple, Danish Lawn, Duck Green, Folly Green, Eddy, Emerald Green, Green Ground, Green Smoke, Green Stone, Grove Green, Hog Plum, Lichen, Mere Green, Minster Green, Monkey Puzzle, Olive, Palm, Pea Green, Pond Green, Raw Tomatillo, Sap Green, Saxon Green, Studio Green, Suffield Green, Sutcliffe Green, Teresa's Green, Tunsgate Green, Verdigris Green, Vert de Terre, Vitty Green, Whirlybird, Yeabridge Green
MPs: Damian Green, Chris Green, Caroline Lucas, Lilian Greenwood, Kate Green, Margaret Greenwood, Sarah Green
Tube stations: Bethnal Green, Bounds Green, Golders Green, Greenford, Green Park, Kensal Green, North Greenwich, Parsons Green, Stepney Green, Turnham Green, Willesden Green, Wood Green Former names: Acton Green, Croxley Green, Walham Green Other London stations: Drayton Green, Edmonton Green, Greenwich, Harringay Green Lanes, Hither Green, Palmers Green, Slade Green, South Greenford Outside London: Acocks Green, Barnt Green, Borough Green and Wrotham, Broad Green, Dunton Green, Green Lane, Green Road, Greenbank, Greenfaulds, Greenfield, Greenhithe, Greenock Central, Greenock West, Gretna Green, Hall Green, Heald Green, Hough Green, Hurst Green, Langley Green, Lea Green, Marston Green, Seer Green and Jordans, Town Green, Welham Green, Wylde Green
Musicians: Al, Cee Lo, Day, Gartside, Jelly, Norman Baum, Professor Music: Barwick, Door, Grass of Home, Onions, Tambourine
London walks: Jubilee Greenway, Green Chain, Green Link, Dollis Valley Greenwalk
Html codes: Aquamarine #7FFFD4, Eucalyptus #5F8575, Jade #00A36C, Lincoln Green #478778, Malachite #0BDA51, Olive Green #808000, Pear #C9CC3F, Pistachio #93C572, Sea Green #2E8B57, Spring Green #00FF7F, Teal #008080, Verdigris #40B5AD
London's Millennium Greens: Aberfeldy, Albion, Alexandra, Chadwell, Cricklewood, New Southgate, Waterloo, Robin Hood
Cities/towns with Green Belts: Bath/Bristol, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Burton upon Trent, Cambridge, Derby/Nottingham, Gloucester, Lancaster, Leeds/Sheffield, London, Liverpool/Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford, Stoke-on-Trent, York
National flags that are at least 40% green: Algeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Guyana, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Togo, Turkmenistan, Zambia
Places in London according to the Ordnance Survey: Acton Green, Ardleigh Green, Bell Green, Berry's Green, Bethnal Green, Bounds Green, Broad Green, Brook Green, Chingford Green, Colham Green, Fortis Green, Golders Green, Green Street Green, Greenford, Greenhill, Greenwich, Hither Green, Horns Green, Kensal Green, Leaves Green, Newyears Green, North Greenwich, Norwood Green, Palmers Green, Parsons Green, Pinner Green, Rowley Green, Rush Green, Slade Green, Strand on the Green, Stroud Green, Walham Green, West Green, Westbourne Green, Wood Green, Woodcote Green, Woodford Green
Salt and vinegar: Walkers, Sainsburys, Tesco, Aldi, Asda, Morrisons Cheese and Onion: Golden Wonder, Smith's, Hula Hoops, McCoys Green Onion: Lay's Chicken: Smiths (Australia)
Fictional: Green Gables, Green Ginger, Green Hornet, Jolly Green Giant, Dock Green, Lieutenant Green, Reverend Green, Camberwick Green
Green lines: District, Waterloo & City, Trams, Suffragette, 701, 724, 755, 757
