On autumn afternoons Lui likes nothing better than to scamper through the leaves. He ducks under branches and sharpens his claws on trees. Sometimes he takes a running leap at the tree, gets about halfway up, then realises he's not getting any further. (And so this is a good tree to feed the birds in.)
Often I pull a piece of flax off the bottom of the flax bush and drag it round the paths of the potager. He hides in the vegetable shrubbery and pounces when it goes past him.
Do you like my new arches? They were a Warehouse bargain, which I couldn't resist and so got two. One at each end of the main axis path. The one at the far end will have beans growing on it, and I'll extend the bean fence to go on either side of it. I'm not sure about the front one yet - I'm not sure if I want something as permanent as a rose. Maybe sweet peas? Or possibly a scented climber?
I'm very happy with these arches. They help the potager feel more enclosed. When the lavender hedge has grown and gotten bushy it will be even better.
The fuchsia has gorgeous glossy black berries on it. I've read somewhere that these are edible but I'm not game enough to try. They are just so black and shiny and... poisonous looking.
These berries are from the rowan tree (sorbus). One of the streets I walk along has them growing along the roadside. The street is red zoned so they'll probably be bulldozed eventually, along with many other beautiful established trees and shrubs. The funny thing is, I'd just read an article in a library magazine about how easy it is to grow sorbus from seed. So I grabbed some berries, pulped and sieved them, and sowed the seed in a punnet outside. It needs the cold from winter first, so all going well the seed will pop up next spring. Yeah right... I can't help thinking, but there is nothing lost by giving it a go.
I'm another Christchurch blogger popping in to say hi - I'm loving your potager garden and now I know what the Rowan tree berries look like. I had always wondered what they are. Hope you have a peaceful, creative long weekend.
ReplyDeleteThe rowan tree is funny, it's more of a little shrubby thing. I hadn't paid any attention to these trees until I saw the pretty berries one day! I'd always thought they were big trees that were harvested for their wood, don't Hogwarts students have wands made from rowan? Anyway thanks for stopping by, it's always good to get to know another local blogger.
Deleteoh, swoon, it's lovely! i've always loved red brick building, but post-quake i'm thinking a potager (though a little smaller than yours) from the neighbours demolished brick wall might suffice. did you lay the bricks your self? its strange i always thought rowan trees had red berries, i think i must have mixed it up with something else x
ReplyDeleteYes, I laid the paths myself, they were recycled bricks from a chimney (this was pre-quake!). I have a post here showing the evolution of it: http://ghostmyst.blogspot.co.nz/2011/02/stages-of-potager.html
DeleteI've seen a picture of red rowan berries and even pink ones - they must be one of those things that come in lots of different colours!