By Request

I mentioned in my last post that the cotoneaster in my front garden is attracting lots of bees. I was asked if I would put a photo of the cotoneaster on my blog, so here it is. As you can see, it's not a showy shrub, the flowers are extremely small, but they're so loved by bees. It also produces berries which are a favourite with the birds, especially blackbirds, so it's a great shrub to have if you want to help wildlife, or attract wildlife to the garden.

The fruit bushes which I planted a little while ago at the allotment have settled in well. There's a small cluster of fruit on the blackcurrant bush but nothing on the gooseberry, though it seems to be growing well. I think I'll have to wait until next year to taste it's wares. The rhubarb has put out lots of stems but I've resisted harvesting any for fear of weakening the plant. I'm looking forward to taking a few stems from this plant next year. You may remember, I planted out a second rhubarb crown which had started growing again after I thought it was dead. It's very spindly, but it looks to be growing a little stronger now, so with plenty of feeding I'm hoping that it may come good next year.

My daughter spotted the strawberry I mentioned in my last post, so we ended up sharing it. That first taste of home grown strawberry is something I look forward to every year, as is the taste of home grown tomatoes. My tomato plants are growing nice and strong and are flowering away, so it's only a matter of time until I get my hands on that first fruit, and this time I'll have it all to myself as the rest of the family don't like tomatoes. They don't know what they're missing.