Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

[SugarPlumTree]

Potting shed thread for those who enjoy talking about gardens and plants. Plenty of garden chairs and the wood burner lit now there is a chill in the air, please join us !

That's good ppeat. As I mentioned on the previous thread I bought some cherry plums once from a NT garden and made the best jam ever from them. It looks as though they are too sour to eat raw, but are great for cooking.

I attach a photo of the three beautiful, perfect and enormous quinces I got off my tree. There was a fourth that has started rotting, so isn't as photogenic. They also smell fabulous and need to keep ripening off the tree for about 4 weeks, so the kitchen will smell gorgeous for a while yet. Then I'll make the second best jam from them.

That's good ppeat. As I mentioned on the previous thread I bought some cherry plums once from a NT garden and made the best jam ever from them. It looks as though they are too sour to eat raw, but are great for cooking.

I attach a photo of the three beautiful, perfect and enormous quinces I got off my tree. There was a fourth that has started rotting, so isn't as photogenic. They also smell fabulous and need to keep ripening off the tree for about 4 weeks, so the kitchen will smell gorgeous for a while yet. Then I'll make the second best jam from them.

Bearleigh did you by any chance get any beautiful quinces off your tree?

Yes a slight technical hitch there Bear !! My computer won't let me post twice (I have tried!!!!). I adore quinces, according to someone they aren't good this year, I want a quince tree but they like to be near water apparently. i don't have space for ANOTHER tree near my pig trough ponds .

They are good looking quinces though Bearleigh!

Unsurprisingly the one quince blossom on my rescued quince didn't grow up into a fruit. I'm hopeful for next year.

I managed to sow some wild flower seeds into my woodland area in the front garden. I raked up two moss patches to clear some soil. Although they are for shady areas I'm not too hopeful for a great display.

Local apple tasting day today. My favourite apple was not available for amateur growers.

Fabulous quinces Bearleigh!

Funny I don't think you need to train everything the same shape. Your plans sound great.

We went to Standen today. Lovely kitchen gardens. Scary moment when ds grabbed a crystal decanter in the house though - I shall be reverting to my usual policy of staying in the gardens at these places, and saving the houses for when the dcs are older and more civilised.

They are really great quinces, I have to say not only a good size but a nice shape and colour.
It was raining too much here to go to apple day.
rhubarb mine didn't like the houses. DS still reminds me of how much they didn't like the houses and looking round 'dead rich people's old stuff'. Gardens yes, houses, no (except William Morris at Lechlade).
Do you really think its ok to train fruit trees into different shapes? I was just wondering whether it would all look too disparate in a small garden and to stick to the double u. If I could. I suspect it takes more skill than one realises to get the proper shape.
One thing I am pleased about though is to have found a solution that doesn't involve ironmongery or wooden structures, as one option I was wondering about was to train the trees over giant wooden circles but I hesitated as I thought too much in the way of obvious plant support would make a small garden look cluttered.

PS nice trug too.

Sorry about the number of posts! I didn't know anything about quinces needing water. They do need sun, IME and as they come from hot countries am surprised they need a lot of water.

Gulp at the near accident with the decanter Rhubarb. Gardens are far safer - too safe perhaps. BabyBearleigh still grumps that the way NT stopped children climbing the beautiful cedar at Nymans. He used to love it.

Though possibly they stopped it to protect the tree not the children...

Good morning! There is a wonderful oak good for climbing in the gardens at Blenheim and also at Hatfield and some great trees for climbing near Sarratt. It is absolutely pouring here: not a gardening day.

Yes probably more to do with tree welfare than child safety. They actively encourage tree climbing at Sheffield Park; loads of great trees for it there.

Pouring here too. Very annoying because I have to cut back an overgrown Lonicera hedge this morning so that we can repair slipped tiles on the woodshed roof behind it.

That's good about Sheffield Park encouraging tree-climbing.

At BabyBearleigh's last school, a child fell out of a tree, (into nettles) and broke his arm poor thing. It was at a private swimming part at the weekend, but he was a pupil at the school. The head's reaction was that clearly the children needed to climb trees more so they got used to doing it safely. I thought that that was the right attitude.

I used to love climbing trees although I did get stuck occasionally. I don't know when it happened but I am no longer supple enough :(

Dc's regularly scale our apple and bay trees but they are not very high. When I was at school a child fell out a horse chestnut tree whilst foraging for conkers and sadly died.
For Dh's birthday a few years back I bought him a tree climbing experience www.goodleaf.co.uk/ he loved it

It's not raining here yet so I'm off to tidy up a bit

i can't remember if I posted the recipe for quince jelly on here or on the poncey Christmas thread! (which started too early IMO) Any way my Elizabeth David French Provincial Cooking has a dead easy recipe if anyone's interested,

I've just taken my mother to her nearest garden centre so we could pick up our free GW bulbs. I seem accidentally to have bought a sambucus too, from the "seasonal clearance" aka shelf of doom, where there were lots of lovely things to be found.

Thanks Ppeat. Searching for that led me to this blog, by a woman who has a tree that produces 250 quinces a year, and what she does with them, including quince vodka (& other cooking posts):

thequincetree65.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/quince-harvest.html

It'll be a while before my tree tree is as productive as that...

I have dyed my hands bright yellow by gardening in the rain in yellow leather gardening gloves.

Climbing trees is something magical because grownups by and large don't do it. (Romeo apart)

Maud please don't tempt me to go to the garden centre.

Perhaps I'll plant a quince tree in mum's garden, though damsons, cherries, plums, pears and more apples might take priority. Anyway, with all the talk of quinces, now I've got 'the Owl and the Pussy Cat' on my brain, specifically in the voices of two old university friends of my mothers, reciting it with great laughter to my sister and I when we were little. It was our first introduction to Lewis Carroll and being ridiculous and silly just for the fun of it.

`Rhubarb your commitment is awesome.

Not the point I now, but it is also very romantic as well as being ridiculous and silly. Perhaps I'll get the quince tree after all.

Yes, Rhubarb's commitment is awesome. I trudged around the garden centre in the rain and then took my new treasure out into the garden to stand it on the flowerbed, but it was far too wet for any actual gardening.

Quince Marmalade or paste (from Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking).

Wipe off the 'fuzz' from the quinces put them WHOLE unpeeled in a large solid saucepan and cover with water ( i used apple juice) so didn't need sugar. Simmer until the fruit is soft but not breaking up. Take out the fruit, peel slice and core it. Return them to the water it has cooked in and boil till it has reduced by about 1\3 and beginning to turn the ruby red of the jelly.

Strain it all. Weigh the fruit and add the equivalent in sugar. Put this and the liquid back in the saucepan Boil gently till it turns to a jelly. (This all happens when you make it with apple juice , without any sugar btw).

Bottle it. It's delicious.!!

I love the Owl and the Pusey cat poem. It's in my Children's poetry book that I had Christmas 1970 and has the most lovely twee illustrations. It also has the poem which my username comes from.

There is a gardrn opposite our local shop which is mostly conifers and shrubs but looks so well cared for, it's lovely. Noticed earlier it has what I think are quinces trained against one wall.

Came home to find a climbing hydrangea my neighbour brought round earlier, which is brilliant as it was on my wanted list.