The blossom is now giving way to potential fruit. Walking around the garden a couple of evenings ago I marvelled at how a flower – petals, pollen, delicate things – will change and swell and eventually turn into a fruit.
The plum blossom in our garden is finishing, but the big apple tree’s just starting to come out, taking its place. Meanwhile a new little step-over apple tree (a gift from my lovely parents!) is in full bloom with gorgeous pure white flowers and a sharp appley scent. They’re surprisingly large flowers given the size of the tree.
Right next to it, the gooseberry bush is promising a healthy crop this year – much more, I think, than the eight which I picked from it last year! Actually it doesn’t matter how many I get…I still have no idea what to do with gooseberries. I’ve never cooked with them and there certainly wouldn’t be enough for jam, even if I wanted to try it. I will google some recipes – if there’s enough I may try and include them in some form of baking.
It was the little blueberry bush which started off this train of thought. I love how their delicate little bell flowers with just a hint of blue already look like berries in the making.
As you can tell from the photos it’s been a damp few days, which I don’t mind as I know it’ll give everything in the garden a proper boost, especially the young veg. But I’m hopeful the weekend will bring a bit more sunshine and dry weather. I’m currently hardening off my seedlings and the cosmos and marigolds will need to be planted out soon as they’re becoming rather leggy in their pots. Other jobs for the weekend will include staking my one and only tomato plant (it’s becoming enormous!), sowing my remaining annuals straight into some of the borders, a bit of weeding and maybe even a trip to a local plant sale to see if I can find a few bargains. I can’t resist a bargain plant!
Julianne Robertson 