After returning to his estate, the lonely artist left the family manor-house in Jernye and built a house of his own in 1877 around which he created a garden in the 1880s. In years of silence, and later, too, he liked observing how trees, shrubbery and flowers grew. He showed his competence by how he cared for his orchard. In the 1900s, plants of different shapes, colours and breeding seasons carefully selected displayed their grandeur to the painter who found newer and newer details to be painted. Foliage and flowers painted with an informality in his picture of apple trees reflect his superior experience with nature. He treats vision in a uniform way but he was interested not only in glittering surfaces: blossoming trees are surrounded by graceful airiness of atmosphere delicately portrayed. The composition does not become a plain here either, as he produces a perfect illusion of space by placing a lot of shades of greens and trees of different foliage by and beside one another. The light green lawn, smiling blue sky and trees clad in white lace symbolise the freshly radiating spring.
Kálmán Mikszáth, who had a great insight into human nature, Szinyei Merse's writer friend, bought the picture which is still to be found in the house of the writer which was turned into a museum.