There is an elderly crab apple tree just outside the conservatory. I’ve been told by an apple expert that it’s the original species form. I don’t know that for sure, but I do know that every few minutes a crab apple the size of a conker thuds onto the grass, bounces down the steps onto the patio and adds itself to the growing heap outside the conservatory door. I’ve been collecting them up to avoid slipping on them like so many oversized marbles, but what to do with a hundredweight of crab apples?

So we have a crab apple tree, but surely not a candy floss tree? Well, indeed we do. The Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) is turning yellow, releasing the tantalising smell of hot sugar in wafts through the orchard. The mild, still weather captures the rich, sweet scent in little pockets here and there around the garden, and it’s gorgeous.


The chickens are settling in fine, going to roost on their own each night and foraging happily in the stock beds. Next door’s cockerel hasn’t introduced himself yet…

For my part, I’ve got a rare day off today and a paralysis of choice has seized me. The things I could do exceeds the few hours available many times over. Shall I read a book? Go shopping? Repaint the bathroom? Would doing nothing be better – is that the perfect ‘day off’? Oh, what the heck, I think I’ll do some gardening…

But first I need to get the camera fixed. I took this one yesterday before it misbehaved. It’s Echinacea ‘Ruby Giant’.

September 22, 2008