Blossoms: The complex secrets of spring’s simple beauty

THE beautiful blossoms that mark spring might well be a feast for the eyes, but they are also a fascinating puzzle. How do buds form? Why do they flower at a precise time? What allows the range of colours?

As molecular physiologist Maxine Singer explains in Blossoms, it is only in the past 30 years that revolutions in genetics have allowed science to give meaningful answers. Whatever can be understood can…