September 2nd – Another product of wayside roses that’s beautiful but dare I say it, a little more mundane: The sugar-laden rosehips.
Rosehips are loved by jam, syrup and wine makers and, of course, many birds who devour the energy laden confections to fatten up for winter – and thankfully there seems to be a good crop this year.
They are beautiful colours, too…
This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2HTvmoY
via IFTTT
August 15th – Also ripening in the hedgerows and waysides are a large variety of different rose hips in a range of shades and shapes. From cherry red and almost spherical to more oval and orange.
Again, these fruits will help sustain birds and other small animals into the winter and will be bright and beautiful in the late summer when traditionally the colour from flowers subsides.
August 4th – Bitterweet to see the rosehips now ripening well along the lanes and towpaths of the Black Country. They are beautiful in their shiny, vivid orange jackets, their sight brightens many a ride in late summer and autumn. But they also indicate the passage of time and season, and their appearance always makes me a little sad for a summer passing.
There’s plenty of time, though for summer to improve, and while there are still blooms alongside the hips, all is not lost yet.
September 3rd – I took to the canal on the way home, and observed that red appears to be the colour of choice for the season – a whole host of red berries, from honeysuckle, to ripening blackberries, to haws and hips are all doing well. I did wonder, however, what the very glossy red berries were – the ones with the very leathery leaves. There’s about twice the size of a pea, and look like haws but are too large, glossy and red. Any ideas?
I’m also wondering about the hop-like fruit of the broad leaved tree, centre. Something is telling me white birch, but I’m not sure.
Looks like there will be a good crop of helicopter seeds from the sycamores this year, too.
Any help welcome, thanks!
October 17th – The morning commute was damp, and a little drizzly, but it brightened up as I neared work. On the way, I noted the assortment of hips, haws and berries, glistening with raindrops. For the hedgerow fruits, it’s been a bountiful year, and the birds certainly have plenty in the larder right now.
A fine autumn; best I can remember for many a year.
July 22nd – I think this must be the earliest I’ve ever seen ripe blackberries – albeit in small numbers. It’s so early in the season for them, I couldn’t quite believe it. Rosehips, too – summer is definitely cranking on a notch. With the bright sunshine and very warm days of late, so much fruit is ripening.
This is definitely one of the best summers for a good few years. Get out and enjoy it – it’s stunning.
August 12th – The teasel, or dipsacus – is a great plant. Alien-looking, spiky, provider of food for finches and small birds, it grows in meadows, scrubs and hedgerows. Once used for teasing out cloth (hence the name), it’s now spread as a wildflower. These examples have matured beautifully on the wild embankment at South Wigston station, and were, unusually, the only colour there today to speak of, yet by the look of the rosebushes, we’re due an excellent crop of hips in all their red-orange glory.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 