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November is the first month of winter and a slack time in the garden as all of the summer blooms have faded. The only colour out there is from the berries on the different shrubs. Here in our garden, the rosa rugosa is covered in hip berries like small tomatoes. In times past, the syrup from these hips were used to relieve sore throats, but they can also be made into some jam.
Cotoneaster is also a lovely vivid berry that grows in little clumps and really looks great against the dark leaves of the shrub. It is ideal for flower arranging. Then there is the firethorn in brilliant yellow and red and of course the holly, which many years ago no house would have been without. Here in the garden, there is the variegated variety with yellow and green leaves and it looks really well in Christmas arrangements.
Very few make use of these valuable fruits these days but they make a great jam or jelly
In the hedgerows, there are several different types of berries – elder, haws, sloes and blackberries. Very few make use of these valuable fruits these days but they make a great jam or jelly, which is very easy to make and high in vitamin C. They are lovely to eat from the bush and are also low in sugar.
The white snowberries are in abundance country-wide and grow on a plant from the honeysuckle family. Birds do not find them attractive as they are white. All of the other berries however help to feed the birds in the winter.
We took a few days off to go on our annual bus trip. The weather was great and we toured the east coast from north to south
A rare rose here in the garden that produces bottleneck-shaped hip is the rosa moyesii. We also planted lots of daffodils and irises in October with dwarf bulbs sown on a reclaimed bank.
We took a few days off to go on our annual bus trip. The weather was great and we toured the east coast from north to south. Our base was the lovely Arklow Bay Hotel and all 56 of us had a great stay.
It’s a great way to spend a few days away with the same great group of people we have been going with for the last 10 years.
Patsy our bus driver brings us places we have never heard of. Farmers were busy along the way tilling and sowing. Hoping all readers got away for a few days also and keep gardening.
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