Holly berries and Squirrels
I'm writing another post about the beauties of Autumn, but the reality is that I'm still mourning the end of Summer. The weather has been wet and grey. The rain has kept me indoors when I would rather be in the garden, and when I've been in the garden it's not long before I would rather be indoors.
I will admit that on venturing out in the damp and chill this morning, I was feeling a trifle 'uninspired'. But fear not, I found plenty to fill this weeks Six on Saturday.
1. The Woodland
In the Summer its all about the flowers for me. Come Autumn, I start to notice the trees again. The changing colours of the leaves are the main reason of course, but there is also less to distract your eye now.
2. Mulberry Tree
In the Knot Garden, the Mulberry Tree, becomes the highlight.
3. Holly
The holly is covered with berries. Are they earlier than usual? Or did I not notice them in previous years?
4. Rainbow Chard
Worth growing to have something pretty to look at in the vegetable garden. It distracts from the caterpillar chewed leaves of the kale and purple sprouting growing nearby.
5. Squirrels - leave them bulbs alone!
There must be a sign on our front gate saying 'Squirrel and Pigeon Sanctuary'. The garden is full of the blighters, eating a gourmet diet of berries, sweetcorn and now that expensive and delicious delicacy - miniature narcissi bulbs. I'd only just planted them too. Oh, the joys of wildlife gardens.
6. Squash
You buy the seeds. You plant the seeds. Only two germinate. You nurture the plants. One makes it through to maturity. It grow and grows and produces this....
Which doesn't seem to bear much resemblance to the picture on the packet.
I fully expect it to turn from a marrow to a butternut squash over the next week.
That's all from my garden for this week. More garden fun can be had by visiting The Propagator.
Wow, that Mulberry tree is a monster! Do you harvest fruit from it, did I miss that episode? You made me giggle about the imposter in the veggie garden. :D
ReplyDeleteIt's a monster tree indeed. It produces loads of fruit, which fall from the tree when they are ripe so you harvest them by collecting them from the ground. I can't seem to find any recipes for Mulberries, which I think says a lot. Actually there is one - for Tottenham cake, which uses Mulberry juice to make an icing, which is bright pink but tastes of lemon. I have also made Mulberry jam which has a rather solid texture, and I'm the only one here who eats it.
DeleteThat holly is certainly laden with berries. Sorry about your squash disappointment - how annoying.
ReplyDeleteLooking on the bright side, at least the squirrels didn't eat them!
DeleteI have enough Cyclamen hederifolium seedlings to carpet your woodland, trouble is, I don't have a woodland. I garden at one scale and dream (and propagate) on a much bigger one. The Mulberry would be perfect in my dream garden too.
ReplyDeleteThe Cyclamen carpet sounds lovely. Sometimes I dream of a smaller garden where the weeds aren't always getting the upper hand though.
DeleteThat Mulberry Tree is impressive! What a beauty.
ReplyDeleteI can’t help much with the holly berries, but here, further north than you are it’s usually around mid-late November, going by my neighbour’s (which they’ve now taken down).
What a pity about your miniature narcissi - I’m sure the squirrels could have been bit more considerate and snacked on something less special.
We have a very large oak tree, a Scots pine covered in cones and the fields here are fringed with horse chestnuts. The little blighters have plenty of food. I have potted up some other bulbs in pots in the greenhouse so they shouldn't be able to get at them in there.
DeleteI loved my old mulberry tree. We called it the bird buffet. As the season progressed the berries must have fermented, resulting in drunken birdies....sadly the tree lay down one night.
ReplyDeleteYou can smell the fermenting fruit in late Summer. I've not seen any drunken birdies though, which is a shame.
DeleteI had a problem with squash a few years ago. It was bought as Sweet Meat, it was something else entirely. Several different squash on each plant in fact, beautiful and completely nasty tasting. Hope yours taste good!
ReplyDeleteI was reading the other day about a company which had to withdraw some of their courgette seeds as the plants were producing nasty tasting veg. Fingers crossed these will be alright, but after your warning, I will try a little bit first before cooking the whole thing.
DeleteI haven't seen a mulberry tree in years - they are very uncommon here in Ireland - and yours is a very impressive specimen; great age, I imagine. It brings back a childhood memory for one grew in the grounds of my primary school and I recall enjoy scoffing on the fruit.
ReplyDeleteIt is slightly decrepit - lopsided and large branches have obviously been removed in the past. I've no idea how old it is, but the house dates back to the 1860s. I like the thought of one growing in the grounds of a school . I'm picturing all those purple fingers and mouths stained with the juice!
DeleteThat’s funny about the squash impersonator!
ReplyDeleteI love the woodland in the first photo as it looks like a dreamy place to wander in. Also the mulberry tree...what a grand specimen.
Thanks Jane. I'm hoping for better luck with the squash next year.
DeleteWe had a mulberry years ago. The leaves are beautiful and the berries drove me nuts. I really thought squirrels don't mess with narcissi bulbs! ??
ReplyDeleteI thought I was safe too, I've not seen them go for them before. Perhaps some are tastier than others.
DeleteSuperb mulberry tree ! I love it.
ReplyDeleteYou have troubles with squirrels ... here it's birds that are digging up my future spring bulbs .... sigh ...
Maybe I'm blaming the squirrels, but it's actually the birds. I hadn't thought of that.
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