Horse Chestnut

These rather attractive flowers belong to the Horse Chestnut, though better known for its autumnal offering of conkers. As I contemplated the tree, I considered the array of colours it yields to the eye. In winter, it is brown and stark, but in spring its green leaves are accompanied by these spikes of white and pink flowers. As its leaves turn red and orange in the autumn, so its conkers are a rich, smooth mahogany-brown. Surely, this tree reminds us of the glorious hues and verdant splendours of Eden, a place from which we were excluded, but in Christ we are to be readmitted.