I had been carefully husbanding a row of rosehips, waiting for them to turn this colour before taking their picture by dawn light...they belong to the New Dawn. But this evening I saw that they were gone! About a dozen of them. Bitten off. And then I saw a squirrel walking away over the roof. Walking, not running. I'm kind of glad he was eating them...it seems a natural sort of thing for a Brooklyn-born squirrel to be doing. But no picture.
The fennel flowers have almost all set seed and I will collect it for rubbing into a pork shoulder with lemon zest and garlic.Below, a self-sown autumn clematis. The parent was probably the plant I took out three years ago after it threatened to take over the world. This one escaped my attention and made its way up the New Dawn.
And figs, almost the last of the 2009 crop.
Picking them I bruised a couple by accident and almost dislocated a shoulder: it's long stretch! Stand on a chair, lean over the barbecue, don't push the pot off the edge...
I admired them for a while, thinking about the miracle of the fruit from the little tree that looks like dry sticks through winter.
And then I ate them.
Speaking of the fig tree, how do you overwinter it?
ReplyDeletelovely pictures! and the figs really look succulent
ReplyDeleteBeautiful figs! As for the rose hip-stealing squirrel, he should be healthy for the Vitamin C ...
ReplyDeleteKeli'i
:)
ReplyDeleteThis fig tree thing... I think I've only seen one pic of it in its entirety: it's really small, isn't it? Where can I get one? How big should its pot be? How many seasons before it starts making fruit? Do you think it's a thing that a really bad, inexperienced gardener can grow?
ReplyDelete(blinks, hoping you don't notice the shameless attempt to score free advice)
Fig overwintering:
ReplyDeleteI don't. First year I wrapped it. Second year I put it under the table on the terrace. Third year I lifted it off the edge of the roof and put it on the barbecue. It is protected from the west by the building walls, and that's it, really. It would depend on your local conditions, exposure, winter minimum and the cultivar - unfortunately, I don't know what my fig is. Mistakenly, I thought it was a Hardy Chicago.
Paula - they were plump, and not as sweet as the first ripe crop.
Keli'i...Squirrel pate.
:-)
Karen: where are you? I know roughly, of course :-)And if you're in Ireland I have no idea where you can find one! Start googling nurseries to find one near you. But you're home now, right?
The fig is really small, yes, about 2'-3' high and wide, and I don't really know how old it is, nor how old they have to be to make fruit.
The pot should be able to fit the fig's rootball, ahem, with about a minimum of an additional 6" all around and beneath. The bigger the better, of course. I have re-potted mine once. As for ripening, figs do love sun, so put it in a spot that gets 6 hours straight sun...Water daily until the water runs from the bottom of the pot. Good drainage v. important.