Hawthorn

These are the fruits of the Chinese hawthorn. They hold to the tree right through winter. I'm collecting them and scattering them throughout the forest garden to see if they will grow without going through any nursery process. One or two did that last year; I must have dropped some or they were carried by birds, and I'm very encouraged to think that I can help the tree reproduce in this way. Like most trees, the seeds don't sprout beneath the canopy of the parent; whether that's a condition of light, chemical deterrents or whatever, I don't know.

Circular thinking

Stuff.nz has published an article I wrote about circles. Click here to read.

It lives!

Indoor plants have never done well under my gentle ministrations; they sicken and die, usually, through no fault of their own. I'm not a methodical person and like plants to be independent of my attentions. Consequently (see my first sentence). However, that has changed, praise Gaia, and I've grasped the nettle-of-care and changed my neglectful ways. Here's the proof! Two indoor plants that would otherwise be extinct, are alive and flourishing! The one on the right, variety unknown, was a much taller, gangly, unbalanced plant that somehow survived in a dim corner of the lounge, tied to a cane with string to try to give it an upright form, but forever trying to lie down, in disgust, I imagine. I decided to right that wrong, prune it heavily then bring it back to its natural, splendid and spreading, form. And I did. I water it regularly, feed it occasionally and move it about the lounge to catch the sunlight. It's responding very well and rapidly gaining leaves and form. I expect it will soon be towering over us all and filling our indoor lives with oxygen and gratitude. The second plant is a young tree, a "sensitive tree" - Mimosa something-or-other and was given to me at the start of winter by a friend. Neither he nor I expected the frost-sensitive thing to survive more than a week or two, but it too is thriving in response to my attentions. Every day it spends it's leisure time in the sun, if there is any, and then in the evening, folds its leaves and sleeps till the next morning. I repot it as it grows and water it sensibly. I'm really proud that I've broken my hex-of-neglectfulness and delighted that I had these two plants to try out my new-found responsible attitude upon. Next, I'll try again with a plant I've killed many a time: the maidenhair fern. I can feel its fear already, but as I am a new man, it has nothing at all to worry about.

Yew, lignum vitae & ebony - my latest Get Growing column

Birds on a wire

I threaded apples onto a bamboo cane and set it in the garden outside of the French doors. Bellbirds, waxeyes and blackbirds visited, balancing elegantly on the swaying cane while they pecked at the chilly apples.

Waxeyes feeding

Axminster

Scatterings on the ground provide the perfect medium for mushrooms. Over the next few weeks, the colour drains from these fallen bits and pieces, but spring flowers will push through soon enough; snowdrop, bluebell, crocus and daffodil.